Bang Goes the Divine Creator
by Araylia Reed
Summary: AU. Dark fic that gets progressively lighter. Ianto has a bad start in life and things only get worse as he grows up, will the appearance of Torchwood and one Jack Harkness change it for the better?
1. Number 1

**Might turn out to be quite a dark fic. There will be mentions of abuse in its many forms, prostitution, bad language and general not niceness. **

**Just a little thing to try and encourage a muse or something to flick on in my brain for my other fic. Who knows? **

**Definitely an AU fic. Characters and settings will be familiar to the original series other than that...the familiarity will probably end. **

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><p>Ianto Jones never really had much of a chance.<p>

His memory spanned back for a long time for a child, he could remember thinking before he could speak and reading before he could walk. He was an intelligent child; he might have even been considered a prodigy...had he been given the proper start in life.

Cowering behind the sofa with Rhiannon, his younger sister, he examined his life so far- something far too grown up for an nine year old to be doing. His life had always been dire (a word he had learned from the television) but it hadn't been as hopeless as it had in recent years. His mother had been kinder and his father hadn't been as cruel; he'd never hit Ianto back then...but then he hadn't hit his mother either. Ianto felt like he had to protect his mother from the maliciousness that his father, Rhodri, inflicted- mentally and physically.

He knew that his mother wasn't entirely stable; she'd fade in and out of reality believing that she was still a child herself and that Ianto was her brother rather than her son. The periods of her lucidity were becoming further and further away the more abuse she suffered at the hands of her husband.

Ianto shushed his sister who had begun whimpering; she was only six and didn't understand nearly as much as Ianto did. He'd thought that things would improve with Rhi's impending arrival, and they had...for a while. His father smiled and treated his mother with care and consideration; he'd even taken Ianto to the park and pushed him on the swings- a trip that had resulted in a broken arm but only as an honest accident...although Ianto sometimes wondered. His mother's mental health improved, permanently being the adult that Ianto needed.

Until it fell apart.

It just took one slip. Ianto still didn't understand the full nature of the incident that destroyed the temporary contentment, he may have been clever but he was still a child. His innocence clouded his understanding and he didn't understand why his mother seeing the postman was a bad thing. You had to see the postman to get the post. That was when Rhodri had beaten his mother till Ianto screamed himself raw, throwing his tiny frame at his father who used him as the punching bag his mother had been up till that point.

Ianto had no idea how his baby sister survived inside his mother but he was eternally grateful that she had. She was a wonderful thing when she was still small and helpless, she still was. Ianto loved her more than anything in his life and he'd promised to protect her against the terrible world they had to grow up in. He fed her when his mother lapsed into a state of childhood, changed her and watched her grow, hiding her from their father when he was around.

He stroked her hair and she snuggled closer to him. He shushed her again and wrapped his arms tighter around her. He sighed quietly as he watched his mother stumble around the living room in a drunken state. He'd gotten used to her personality switching invariably from drunken adult to helpless child, cleaning up vomit from the former and playing tea party with the latter. Ianto had realised early on that the more he got his mother to eat in her regressive state the less drunk she would become when she switched back to reality. He didn't like cleaning up sick but if he didn't then his father would be mad and then they'd both be in trouble.

Occasionally his mother cried when she was in this state, calling out for her children to come and comfort her. Ianto had been forgiving in the beginning and comforted his mother in her state of self pity but soon her inebriated apologies turned to drunken hatred, cursing the day her children were born, forcing her to become older, making her realise with each year she was older too. Ianto was able to understand that their mother didn't mean what she said in this state but Rhiannon took everything at face value, blaming herself that her mummy was upset so often. It had taken Ianto a long time to make his baby sister understand that she was not to blame, that it was just the apple juice in mummy's special glass making her say those things.

Ianto wrapped a blanket around them both, he'd stocked up on the supplies behind the sofa taking anything they might need from the spare blanket to cereal bars and cartons of juice. He couldn't remember the last time their father had come home and he was glad. It had taken until Rhi was three years old for their father's 'trips' to begin. At first he would just disappear for the night, returning dishevelled and despondent in the morning; Ianto would long for the nights when his father would disappear in hopes of some sort of respite, a chance for the bruising to heal and to take care of his sister and mother in relative safety. Eventually his father would disappear for weeks at a time, sometimes only reappearing for a brief day and then disappearing soon afterwards. With one demon out of the house it made it easier for Ianto to deal with the one plaguing their mother. She seemed to improve while Rhodri was out of the house on these trips but her husband had a poor judge of timing and just when Ianto thought he'd manage to pull his mother back from the mental precipice she was teetering on his father would come back and destroy his efforts, breaking his mother and himself in the process.

Ianto had long given up hoping that his father would disappear for good, whenever he thought that things were going to be okay, that things were looking brighter, he'd come stumbling back into their lives dragging the whole family back to square one with his appearance.

'Ianto...'

Ianto pushed Rhiannon behind him as he cautiously listened to his mother's voice.

'Where are you, baby?'

Ianto scowled, pushing them both backwards so they were further away from the opening between the sofa and the wall. His mother slurred her way through an apology, her voice cracking halfway through. Promising that she would be a better mother, that she would protect him rather than letting him take the brunt of Rhodri's anger, that she would clean up and stop drinking.

Ianto rolled his eyes, a habit he'd picked up from hearing constant lies. He put his finger to his lips when he heard Rhiannon start to whimper again, handing her a juice carton to keep her quiet.

'Come out here! I'm your mother!'

Ianto nearly snorted, it hadn't taken long for her to descend into threats and orders tonight. She must have had more than usual. His mother's tirade lasted longer than her apologies had, threatening to act more like his father if he didn't come out and help her.

Ianto didn't move a muscle knowing that she soon would get exhausted or bored of looking for him and end up passing out in a pile of sick. He'd help her then, because she was sincere when she was sober. She was sorry and she loved him. She was just too weak. Ianto often loathed that he had to be the strong one, wished that his mother would grow a back bone and run away taking them away from this awful place...but he knew that with her periods of lucidity being so infrequent the thought wouldn't occur to her.

The shouts of their mother soon faded away and he heard the distinct sound of retching from the kitchen. Placing Rhi back on his lap, Ianto drew the blanket back around them letting his sister snuggle into the fabric.

'When's mummy going to get better, Nantoe?'

'Soon, Rhi. She just has to be sick and then she'll be okay again.'

Rhiannon perked up in his lap, 'And then we can play tea party again?'

'Maybe, we'll see how mam's feeling in the morning...she might want to play grownups again.'

'Okay,' she mumbled into his chest, 'I think I like it better when mummy plays grownups.'

Ianto stroked his sisters hair as she drifted off to sleep, 'Me too, Rhi. Me too...'

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

When Ianto woke he stretched out his back, trying to work out the knots that had formed from sleeping near upright for as long as he could remember. He shifted Rhiannon gently from his lap, placing her head on a pillow, and padded to the kitchen.

His mother was sat upright with her bottom lip quivering, 'Yannnno, I got sick on me.'

Ianto smiled and took his mother's hand, succinctly covering the disgust he felt, 'it's okay, Lauren. I'll clean you up and then we can play games again.'

He grabbed the dishcloth from the sink and ran it under the lukewarm water, squeezing it gently the excess ran off and he wiped his mothers face, clearing the sick from her cheek and neck.

'There you go, Lauren. But you'd better have a bath so you're extra clean.'

His mother snivelled and nodded, 'Fanks Yano.'

Leading her up to the bathroom, Ianto ran a shallow bath for his mother pouring in a generous amount of bubble bath, 'Okay, you get in; I'll leave the towel here for you.'

Tying up his mother's hair so it wouldn't get wet, he instructed her to be sensible in the bath because water could be dangerous no matter how small an amount and to make sure she cleaned herself all over and not to cheat because otherwise she would smell. Looking serious, his mother nodded from the tub.

Ianto went back to the kitchen and busied himself with clearing up the inevitable pile of sick near the bin but not quite in there. Rhiannon walked in looking sleepy and dragging the pillow behind her.

'Is mummy not playing grownups?'

Ianto smiled, 'Not today, but we have fun playing tea party, don't we?'

Rhi shrugged, 'I s'pose so,' settling herself at the breakfast table she clutched the pillow to her chest, 'Is daddy coming home today?'

'Doesn't look like it,' Ianto discarded of the towel he'd used to clean up the mess, 'Do you want him too?'

Rhiannon shook her head fiercely, 'I hate him. I hate that he makes you and mummy hurt!'

Ianto hugged his sister, 'He's not here now and I'm not hurt,' he smiled his biggest smile, 'See! I'm happy.'

'But you don't look happy here!' she gestured to his eyes, 'The happy is only here,' she pointed to his mouth.

Ianto genuinely smiled then, 'You're such a clever girl, you know that right?'

'I'm not clever like you!'

Ianto tickled her, 'No, you're a different clever, but clever all the same.'

Rhiannon giggled hysterically, 'No, Nantoe! Tickles!'

'Kids could you quiet down please? Mummy has a headache...'

Their mother stumbled into the kitchen, a towel wrapped around her body and a hand on her head, 'Is there any Paracetamol, Cariad?'

Ianto smiled, 'I'll just grab it, Mam,' he rushed to the cupboard nearly tripping in his haste only to be caught by his mother.

'Careful, darling. Don't want you hurting yourself.'

Rhiannon looked at her mother in awe, 'Are you playing grownups today?'

Lauren Jones smiled blithely, 'that's the plan, sweetheart,' she kissed Rhi's nose, 'Now my darling children...what to have for brekkie?'

'Scrammy eggs!' Rhiannon squealed, having no qualms at taking full advantage of her mother's lucidity.

'Ooh that sounds scrummy! How about it, Ianto? Scrammy eggs sound good to you? With toasty soldiers on the side?'

Ianto felt the most content he'd been in a while, a fact that made him immediately aware of his father's impending re-entry, 'That sounds good.'

Lauren giggled, 'You sound so grown up, darling!'

As their mother busied herself in the kitchen making them all a batch of scrambled eggs, Ianto and Rhiannon chattered happily at the table, pleased that they hadn't had a breakfast of milky bread again- something Ianto was capable of making them that was simple and nutritious.

Ianto almost stuffed the meal down his throat with a similar fervour as Rhiannon, they both knew that this breakfast could be short lived and were determined to take full advantage of a hot meal, even if it was only scrambled egg.

'Jeez, kids. Slow down or else you'll choke!'

Rhiannon smiled up, 'I like scrammy egg too much to be slow!'

Lauren smiled at her children, practically unaware that it had been 10 days since their last proper meal- a roast she had been able to finish and dish out before lapsing back into childhood. She frowned as she remembered the last time she cooked, 'it's Monday today, isn't it?'

Ianto swallowed, 'It's Wednesday.'

Lauren frowned, Wednesday? But she'd cooked the roast on Sunday...was it possible she had been in a state since then? She only remembered being drunk last night though...

Shrugging she tucked into her breakfast as well, wondering if she'd only imagined throwing up last night.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

Ianto knew that the contentment couldn't last. The fact that his mother had time to recover physically and mentally should have been the indicator. He shoved Rhiannon behind the sofa the moment he heard the front door open. The look of terror on his mother's face mirrored how he was feeling on the inside. He quelled the trembling of his body as the footsteps drew closer to the living room.

'Lauren! Where the fuck are you?'

His mother stood to attention, not moving a muscle as her husband walked into the room. Rhodri was a tall man, over six foot tall he filled the room as he entered. He was broad and had an impressive physique. His eyes were red rimmed and bloodshot, the pallor of his skin an unhealthy sheen, the alcohol bleeding out of every pore in his body giving him the scent of booze.

'Come here you slut.'

Lauren moved cautiously over to him, trying not to flinch as he pulled her towards him, plundering her mouth in an aggressive manner.

'What's wrong with you? Stupid bitch. Aren't you pleased to see your husband?'

She smiled weakly, 'Of course I am, darling! You've been gone for so long...'

Rhodri kicked her legs out from under her, causing her to fall forward on all fours.

'That's it, honey. You love being on your knees for me don't you.'

Lauren started to tremble.

'What are you shaking for? Huh?' he dragged her back up to his eye level by her hair, 'Disgusting whore, look at yourself...you're fucking ugly as sin. No wonder I hate coming back here when all I have is a fuck ugly wife and a dumb brat who doesn't know what's good for him.'

Ianto stared up at his father.

'Oh yeah. Don't think I haven't seen you stood there like her personal body guard, 'he chuckled, 'not that you're a very good one. You fall down after one kick.'

Ianto didn't flinch; he was well practised at this.

'Right you little whore, you're gonna show me how much you've missed me,' he guided Laurens face down so she was level with his crotch, 'You know what to do.'

Lauren looked uncertainly at her husband then at Ianto, 'In- in front of Ianto? I can't do that.'

'What was that you bitch?' he dragged her back by her hair, 'are you disobeying me?'

Tears leaked out of her eyes, 'Please, don't make me do that,' her head wrenched backwards as Rhodri slapped her around the face, the force of it throwing her off balance. Raining down on her, Rhodri began to punctuate his sentences with a short kick, 'You. Will. Do. As. I. Say.'

A small moan escaped Lauren's mouth, 'Please, stop!'

Picking her up by her neck he slapped her around the face again, the grip making her unable to fall backwards. He added a quick jab to her stomach, 'No other bastard children in there? Fucking the postman again?'

Ianto screwed up his courage and flung himself at the man's back; clinging around his neck with one arm he dug his fingers into his father's face with the other making Rhodri howl.

'You little fuck! I'll make you pay for that!'

Ianto tried to evade the grasp of his father but didn't make it away in time, holding back the tears from the pain raining over his small frame. He felt the skin break on his lip and blood trickle down his chin. He heard his mother screech and fling herself on Rhodri in a vain attempt to help her baby.

Consciousness was fading for Ianto, but his self preservation won out enabling him to drag himself behind the sofa collapsing in the small space, feeling reassured at Rhiannon's small hands dragging him further in and dabbing at his face with a cloth he'd stashed there. He stayed awake long enough to hear his mother plead and beg and promise the anger out of his father, taking him out of the room and up the stairs.

The edges of darkness began to swim around his vision, warning him of his impending black out, closing his eyes he let the blackness engulf him and take him away to oblivion.


	2. Number 2

**I'm actually shocked by the good reception my first chapter has already! It's made me a very happy bunny! **

**We're still on the downward spiral I'm afraid!**

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><p>Ianto glanced down the hallway, holding Rhiannon back with his arm. He listened carefully for any sign of movement, stilling his own breath in anticipation.<p>

It had been many years since the night he'd collapsed behind the sofa, six to be precise, and Ianto had grown into a lean teenager. As he had grown taller he had been able to reach the kitchen utilities and so his diet had improved and he had become quite resourceful when it came to cooking for himself and his sister. As far as anyone on the outside could tell the Jones family were healthy if not a bit reclusive. His father still went disappeared for weeks on end and now when he came for Ianto he could put up more of a fight before succumbing to oblivion. As for his mother...she became so damaged that she was in a near comatose state, drifting around like a ghost only responding to the twisted commands of Rhodri when he reappeared, forcing her to do unspeakable acts to and in front of her children. Ianto had managed to keep Rhiannon away from the more twisted imaginings of his father, keeping her mental innocence just about in tact...Ianto had long lost anything that might even resemble innocence.

'Ianto...' Rhiannon breathed, 'Be careful.'

Ianto nodded as he quietly stepped out into the hallway. Had it not been for his father's latest instruction this should have been a fairly simple task. He had been stealing money off of his mother for the last four years in hopes of escaping this house, just a ten pound note here and there. He'd collected nearly £3000 now and he'd been looking at properties to rent out, mainly in low key and seedy areas of Cardiff. His current mission was to get the money to restock the fridge; they were dangerously low on food. The only problem was that, before Rhodri had left the last time, his father and instructed his mother to 'attack' the children on sight-at least that's what he'd told Rhiannon- so moving about the house had become almost impossible. He'd been caught frequently in the beginning, screaming at Rhi to run to the safe place as their mother descended on him in a crazed frenzy.

A floorboard creaked under his foot and every fibre of his being stilled, tensing up his ears strained to hear anything in the deafening quiet. He had no idea where his mother was lurking the house, so every noise he made was a tip off to his whereabouts. Letting out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding he made it over to her handbag, glancing behind him Rhiannon gave him a small thumbs up. She'd have his back while he got the money.

As she'd grown up Ianto realised that Rhiannon was strangely acute to people's feelings, as if she could anticipate what they felt before they did. Ianto had gained that skill from reading his parents unstable moods, but Rhi had shown the skill before she even knew what it was herself- sometimes alerting Ianto to mood shifts in his mother that he hadn't seen coming. They both had never been to school so Ianto had taken it upon himself to teach Rhiannon how to read- something he'd picked up naturally. He'd also found that once he'd read something he could recite it near word perfect. He used to hold school days for them both so that maybe one day they might be able to get real qualifications. He could grasp A level concepts of science and maths easily and Rhiannon excelled in English and found sense in the chaos of art. But with his mother under new orders he'd had to put their education on hold, finding that his mother tended to stay by the computer more than most places.

Pulling out a twenty from his mother's purse, he replaced it in the handbag and gestured for Rhiannon to escape out the front door with him. Closing it softly behind them they both let out a loud sigh of relief- they knew that even though she wasn't mentally stable their mother wouldn't attack them in broad daylight...at least she hadn't yet.

As they walked down the path to the pavement Rhiannon sighed, 'How are we gonna get the food in without making noise?'

'We'll go in through the back and hope for the best.'

'We can't go on like this, Ianto,' she linked her arm through his, 'You can't go on like this...every time she finds you, you come back looking less...' she gestured to his eyes, 'it's like the light gets duller.'

Ianto hugged her awkwardly from the side, 'I can't hide anything from you can I?' he ruffled her hair, 'It's okay, Rhi. I'm...used to it. Besides we nearly have enough money saved up to get out of that place.'

'I was going through the contract though...'

Ianto raised his eyebrows, 'Were you now?'

'Yes, and it says that the main party has to be over 18 to rent it. Or that we have to have consent from a guardian.'

'Ah yes, but there is also a clause that states that "in the absence of a parent or guardian a written letter of approval can be used as proof of consent from the older party.".'

'Hmm,' Rhiannon wrinkled her nose in thought, 'Something doesn't sound right to me,' sighing she conceded, 'Anywhere is better than here though.'

'Exactly! Now...what shall we get for dinner?'

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

Getting the food back into the house had proven hazardous but they were able to pack it all away in the cupboards relatively quickly and quietly without rousing their mother. Tip toeing up to their room, Ianto locked the door behind him- a feature he had installed after finding his father's tool box. Feeling relatively safe, Rhiannon pulled out a TV set from underneath her bed- another addition to the various objects they had stashed around the house.

'I'll try and get BBC up,' she plugged it in and began twiddling the aerial on top of the set.

Ianto picked the TV up and put it on the desk, hoping the height would improve the chances of reception, 'Make sure you keep the volume down low.'

'Of course.'

They both froze as they heard something they hadn't heard in months.

'Ianto? Rhiannon?'

They both looked at each other as their mother's piteous cries permeated the house. Rhiannon moved over to the door, stopping when Ianto held her back.

'Don't. It could be a trick.'

'But she would have tried it earlier, surely?' she shook his arm off of her but made no move to open the door, 'What if she's back?'

Ianto deliberated the possibilities. Rhiannon knew the full extent of their mother's mental instability, she had for a long time, and he trusted her judgement in emotional situations. But even if their mother had come back to reality there was no warning when she would turn back and if that happened...

He suppressed a shudder.

'I know you're scared of her Ianto,' Rhiannon whispered, 'But if she's back then she'll want to know we're safe.'

Ianto grounded himself for the possibility of being attacked as he moved to the door, 'Only one way to find out,' he unbolted the door and turning to Rhiannon he told her to stay in the room and to lock the door at any sign of trouble. She nodded and watched him cautiously as he stepped out gingerly into the hallway.

The silence was broken as he heard muffled sobs coming from the stairwell, peering around the corner he saw his mother halfway up the stairs crying into her sleeve.

'Mam?'

Lauren looked up at her son, seeing him for the first time in a long time. A look of confusion passed over her features, 'Ianto, how did you grow up so much?'

Ianto hovered at the top of the stairs, wary of her reverting back to the programmed automaton that Rhodri had left behind, 'You've been gone a while, Mam.'

'Is Rhi okay?'

'She's up here as well, she's fine.'

Lauren gulped, 'And your father?'

'He's not here right now.'

Lauren felt tears drop on the back of her hand, 'I haven't been very good lately have I,' she gulped again, 'I'm scared, Ianto.'

A hot flash of rage passed through Ianto. Keeping his features neutral and his demeanour calm he listened as his mother unburdened her fears and sorrows on her child, all the time feeling the anger bubble in his stomach at how pathetic she suddenly appeared to him. All the hatred he had for his father spilling over, contaminating the love he thought he'd had for his mother. She was weak, selfish and just as bad as him.

'Why didn't you leave?'

Lauren looked up, 'Leave?'

Ianto's fist slammed into the wall, 'Why didn't you leave? Why didn't you save us, save me?'

'I-I-I couldn't. I loved him...he wasn't always like this.'

'I bet,' Ianto snorted, 'For as long as I've been alive he's never treated us like his family. He's treated us worse than animals.'

'I'm sorry.'

'Shut up!' Ianto screamed, 'Just shut up! There's nothing you can say to me to make this better,' the vice like grip he'd had on his emotions bubbled over all at once, blinding him with the sheer intensity of it all, 'You're a terrible mother, you don't even deserve that title.'

'Baby...'

Ianto pounded the wall again, 'No! You have no right to call me that,' he ran down to his mother, pulling her up so she was forced to look him in the eye, 'I've been more of a parent to you than you've ever been to me. I've spent years clearing up sick, feeding you, helping you and I can't do it anymore,' he let her go walking back upstairs.

'What are you doing?' she tried to grab his jacket as he went, stumbling and falling on her front, sliding down a few steps.

Ignoring his mother Ianto stormed into their room; grabbing a duffel bag he'd secreted away he began stuffing their meagre possessions into it.

'What's happening?'

Not pausing Ianto barely looked up as he answered, 'I can't do it anymore, Rhi, and I'm not waiting around for the next time she attacks me and I'm sure as hell not waiting for our father to return,' he stuffed their books in next, 'We have enough money for a deposit and a month's rent- I'll figure out how to get the rest somehow...'

Rhiannon nodded silently and started adding the things she didn't want to get left behind in the backpack she'd reserved for the time that they would escape.

Grabbing the tin they'd filled with money Ianto led Rhiannon out of the room, making their way down to the kitchen, 'No point in wasting what we've just bought,' he stuffed the ready to eat food in the duffel and Rhi's backpack.

Their mother appeared in the doorway, 'Where are you going?'

Ianto ignored her and pushed passed her, pulling Rhiannon by the arm. He stopped in front of the door, rifling through his mothers handbag he pulled out her purse and put it in the duffel as well. As he closed the door behind him he heard a muffled howl emanate from his mother. He swallowed the lump that had formed in the back of his throat and taking his sister by the hand he pulled her away from the house.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

The next month had been a blur, after they'd left the house Ianto withdrew as much money he could on the cards in his mother's purse, fearing they'd be found if he used the cards directly. Ianto had made getting a flat their priority, paying the deposit on an almost dilapidated flat in the least desirable part of splott- he'd forged the letter of consent. Until they'd been allowed to move in they'd had to stay in sleazy motels and when they did they realised they didn't have furniture or the means to acquire any. Ianto had resorted to buying a couple of futons which were relatively cheap and light to carry, along with blankets and an overabundance of pillows to cover the floors.

It was going well until the money ran out.

'Ianto...how are we going to pay for the rent next month?'

Ianto chewed his lip, 'I don't know, Rhi...I'll think of something.'

'But...' she looked into their kitty, 'We're down to the last twenty pound note...and rent is £500...how are we gonna raise that much money in less than a week?'

'I could try the cards again...'

'You know he's frozen them.'

Ianto rolled over, 'Just sleep, Rhiannon. I'll think of something. I've never let you down before have I?' he sighed, 'We'll deal with it tomorrow...even if we have to beg on the street I will not go back to that place.'

When Ianto awoke in the morning he went out looking for a job, he'd already been trawling the local area for the last few weeks in a vain attempt. He'd been offered a paper round numerous times but it wasn't enough to make the rent every month, he'd have to find something that paid more...but being only fifteen and with no qualifications made the task impossible.

Just as the shops were closing he walked back to the newsagents closest to where he lived and accepted the paper round. It was better than nothing and maybe if he was really tight on their spending...

He shook his head in despair as he walked through the darkening streets. He felt the weight of the hopeless situation closing in on him, sitting on a nearby bench he began to order his mind.

There was no way he was going back to his parents; he'd rather live on the streets than crawl back to that life. He didn't want them to go into the system either, fearing that the stories he'd heard about children in the governments care were true...no. He was running out of options...maybe if he snuck home and stole from his mother again...but what if his father was at home.

A voice broke him out of his reverie. A man in a Mercedes was beckoning him over; warily Ianto got up and walked as close to the car as he dared.

'What's your price?'

Ianto looked at the man blankly, 'My...price?'

'Don't play coy with me boy,' the man leered at him salaciously, 'If this is some sort of trick to make me pay more I can tell you I won't go higher than 200.'

'Pounds?' Ianto's jaw dropped.

'No clams...Jesus fuck boy. Are you gonna keep me in suspense for much longer?'

Ianto was still confused, 'What do you want to know?'

'How much to you charge for a fuck?'

Ianto's knees nearly gave out. This man thought he was a...hooker. Ianto kept his face placid as if he was thinking about it but inside his mind was racing; he'd only ever heard about that kind of thing on TV and never imagined for a moment boys like him were actually doing it. The thought of it didn't repulse him exactly, he'd had to endure far worse from the hands of his mother and father combined...doing _that_ with a stranger would be better than...

It would solve his money problem...and then some. He'd only need three people to pay the rent and have some spare. He baulked at his thoughts- was he actually considering this?

'Are you gonna keep me waiting all day, boy? I'm sure there are plenty other whores out there who aren't gonna play me hot and cold.'

Ianto took a deep breath, 'What are we talking cause I ch-charge extra for...extras.'

The man huffed, 'Look boy, I'm just looking for a quick fuck, no funny business.'

'£200? I want half upfront.'

'Fine, just get in. I'm on a schedule.'

Ianto gulped as he stepped up to the passenger side door and got in the car.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

'Ianto, where have you been? I've been so worried,' Rhiannon ran up and put her arms around her brother, 'What's wrong?'

'Nothing.'

She watched him as he walked over to the kitty and deposited a wad of money, 'Ianto! Where did that come from?'

'I got a job.'

She studied him carefully, 'Doing what?'

'Paper round.'

'You don't get that kind of money from a paper round...'

'I took a few up, okay? Stop with the third degree.'

She sat and counted out the money, 'There's £300 pounds in here!'

He nodded, 'I told you I'd find a way. I've got...some more to do tomorrow and then we should be okay for rent,' he lay down on his futon, 'I'm tired so I think I'm just gonna go to bed.'

Rhiannon didn't speak, she wasn't a fool but she couldn't think of anything that he could do to earn this much money that fast. She knew there was something fundamentally wrong with his soul, she could feel the waves of misery and pain flowing off of him but she didn't question him. She knew her brother better than she knew herself and right now he didn't want to talk about it. Maybe he never would.

Ianto was in pain. Every fibre of his being was on fire. He ached inside and out. He had no idea what it was going to be like, not really. Nothing could have prepared him for what he'd experienced. The only bright side of his background being that he could withstand pain and retreat inside himself when things became too intense. It wasn't as bad as what it had been at home, but it was strange and new. He shut his mind out and thought of a rough business plan- if you could call it that. He decided that £200 for sex would be his price, that first man had told him that he was worth that much at least and he guessed the man would know. After he'd been dropped off by the first man he'd been propositioned by another earning himself £100 for a blow job, it was messy and he had no idea what he was doing but Ianto was a fast learner so he'd have no problems next time. That was that then. He figured he could learn how to give hand jobs, which he would price at £50 as it was the least daunting...he'd have to pick up some condoms in the morning...a large supply of them. He wondered idly if the local healthcare clinic would give him some for free as he drifted off into an uneasy slumber.


	3. Number 3

**Hope this update finds you well...**

**Enter Harkness stage left...**

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><p>Throwing on the tightest fitting jeans he had, Ianto sized himself up in the mirror, running a hand through his unkempt hair as he slung his leather jacket over his shoulders.<p>

'I'm off out, Rhi.'

Rhiannon appeared from the bathroom, hair dripping down the back of her dressing gown, 'Off anywhere nice for the millennium?'

Ianto shrugged, 'Just meeting a couple of the guys from the newsagents.'

'Your 19 now Ianto, don't you think you could get a better job than multiple paper rounds?'

'No qualifications, Rhi,' he slipped his money clip into his back pocket, 'besides, I can almost guarantee that I won't get paid as much.'

'I'll bet,' she mumbled under her breath.

'Not the mumbling, please! You know I hate it when you mumble.'

'What if I got a job as well? Then that would supplement our income wouldn't it?'

Ianto sighed, 'We've been through this. You go to school, I get the money. I want at least one of us to be able to have a decent future life.'

'Not even a weekend job? What if I-'

'Rhiannon. We are not talking about this again,' he held up his hand to stop her protest, 'All I need from you is to look after the house while I'm working and to do your best in school. Are we clear?'

She looked at him defiantly for a moment before nodding glumly, 'Yes, boss.'

'I'll see you next year,' he smiled, kissing her on the cheek.

'Have a good one,' her soft reply followed him out of the door.

It'd been a rough start living in splott, but after that first night Ianto had adapted to his 'working' life quickly. He'd gained a good reputation in the bad part of town, whispering his terms and conditions to passing cruisers. There wasn't much that he hadn't done these days and he was always in high demand. He'd figured out that to keep on top of the bills, shopping, school fees and the general cost of running a household of two he'd have to give a handjob every night as a minimum. But he'd wanted a better life for Rhiannon, a life where she would want for nothing and they could live as they wanted without any boundaries. That meant they'd had to buy real furniture, kitchen appliances and all the technological devices that they'd only dreamed of as children...technically they were still children. He smiled as he remembered the weekend they had spent re-decorating the flat after they'd watched amateur DIY videos on youtube- they'd got the paint all over the floorboards.

So, he'd upped the stakes of his 'business' plan. He'd been making at least £300 pounds a night for the last four years. Ianto often wondered if maybe his childhood had damaged him beyond repair, he couldn't remember the last time he'd had an emotional attachment...or reaction to anything other than his sister. It didn't matter how his punters treated him, what they said to him, it seemed to roll off of him like water off a duck's back.

Rounding the corner he entered his usual haunt, The Grey Goose. A seedy pub that turned a blind eye to the sort of thing he was selling as long as he didn't cause a fight and kept the men buying drinks. Ianto preferred doing his business in a pub than on the streets. Most of his punters were regulars and they usually didn't want to go too far to fuck. On the streets it had been unpredictable, he'd encountered men that were into all sorts of things that he hadn't even dreamed existed and he'd returned home with more than a few scrapes.

He slung his jacket on the back of his stool as he pulled it up to the bar, 'Alright Tony? Not closed for the new year then?'

'Don't be daft. Where would all you lot have to go if I didn't stay open?' the bartender laughed, 'is it the usual, Bond?'

'If you don't mind,' he gave the pub a cursory glance, 'Any of the regulars been in tonight?'

Tony inclined his head towards the bathroom, 'John's in there with Buttercup right now, but you know he's never adverse to seconds.'

Ianto chuckled, 'I don't understand why someone would name themselves "Buttercup".'

'Preference I suppose. Why'd you call yourself "Bond"?'

'Preference I suppose,' Ianto grinned, 'How about Lefty? Has he been in for a trick yet?'

'Speak of the devil...' Tony chuckled.

Ianto turned around and saw a slightly overweight, slightly balding, middle aged man enter the pub with his head down low; giving the place a once over he came over to Ianto when he saw him sitting at the bar.

'Bond, just the whore I was looking for.'

Ianto ran a hand over Lefty's arm, 'You know how to make a guy feel special,' he winked salaciously, 'what you up for tonight then?'

'Just a suck, I'm in a rush and I'm horny as hell.'

'I'm sure I can help you with that,' he held out his hand, 'You know my policy, half now half later.'

Lefty sighed, digging into his pocket, 'I don't understand why you don't trust me, Bond. You know I'm good for it.'

Counting out the notes Lefty placed in his hand Ianto shrugged, 'Just the way it is,' he gave him a tight smile, 'Lead the way, lover.'

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

Rhiannon waited until Ianto had disappeared down the street before throwing on her clothes and following him out the door. She'd gotten as far as the edges of splott before she lost him. She sighed as she began to walk back. She knew that Ianto had been doing unsavoury things for the money. As she'd grown up and she'd lost her childish naive innocence of the world she realised that Ianto would have to be doing...

She didn't even want to think about it.

She'd slowly watched Ianto retreat into himself as a child, hiding his emotions, burying them until he couldn't even find them anymore. She knew that he had been happier in the years after they had escaped their parents but he still had the emotional detachment.

She thought that maybe he'd just needed time to adjust and to heal but he'd never lost the mask that slipped into place when things were getting just a bit too intense in their lives.

She pulled out her phone as it began to ring in her pocket, looking at the screen she smiled as she answered it.

'Hey Johnny.'

_Alright, Rhi? What's occurring?_

'You tell me.'

_You daft girl. You are coming to mine right this instant. All the guys are here and we need you so we can get wasted and forget about the new year!_

Rhiannon giggled, 'It's the millennium, Johnny!'

_Give a shit! Get over here you gorgeous girl. _

'On my way!' she hung up as he began singing Auld Sang Lyne down the phone, smiling to herself as she quickened her pace.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

Jack Harkness stood over the body of Alex, staring at the bullet hole in his head. He was frozen. This team had proven to be the kindest yet and hadn't treated him like an attack dog, actually caring when he was injured, and now they were...they were...

He mentally shook himself. What did he need to do? He needed to keep moving. Protocol demanded that he sorted this out as soon as possible.

Logging into the computer at Alex's desk he quickly changed the order of command, registering the team as deceased he appointed himself head of Torchwood Three. He changed the security system, the codes and programmed it in to his vortex manipulator giving himself free reign and remote control over the hub. After that was done he stole himself to the task of putting the team- the former team, into the crypt. Carrying them down one by one, he stripped and redressed them in medical gowns finally placing them into a body bag of their own.

As he came to Alex his vision blurred from the mass of unshed tears. He'd known that he would out live them but not like this. Alex was a good man and the fact that he had murdered his team- that he had felt that to enter the void of death was better than facing what lay ahead...

It scared Jack to the core.

Stumbling back up to the main hub Jack howled as he scrubbed away the blood of the team he had grown so fond of, downing whiskey straight from the bottle as he did so. Jack had thought that he'd had a good handle on his emotions, it had been over a hundred years...but this had been so shocking, taking him completely off his guard. The TV droned on in the background bringing in the new millennium with a bang.

Setting the cleaning products aside he eyes up a bottle of bleach as he returned it under the cupboard. A particularly nasty way to die...his insides would be burning long after he revived.

No.

The slight respite temporary death gave him wasn't what he needed. He needed to overwhelm his senses with something explosive, to relieve the grief and pent up stress. He needed a warm body, writhing next to his, distracting his thoughts and expelling his physical and metal tension. He needed someone who knew what they were doing.

Putting the hub into lockdown, he stepped onto the invisible lift.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTW

Wiping his mouth as he came out of the bathroom, Ianto made a beeline back to his usual stool at the bar.

'You missed the countdown, Bond.'

Ianto shrugged, 'No matter, Tony. What's one year from the other?'

'Hear you there pal,' Tony set down a shot of whiskey, 'That'll burn the taste outta your mouth, son. On the house.'

'Cheers Tony,' Ianto downed the shot, smiling when the burn hit his stomach, 'You sure do know how to look after your whores...maybe you should start a business.'

Tony rolled his eyes, 'No thank you. I'd rather not end up in jail,' he looked up as someone walked through the door, 'Oi, oi, he's a new one.'

Ianto turned in his seat. The man who had walked in looked like he belonged in a war film, the impressive military coat swung around his legs as he strode into the room. Ianto raised his eyebrow as he sized him up, 'He looks too confident to be new to this.'

They watched as the man took his time surveying the room, stopping to chat to a few of the other boys Ianto knew. Ianto looked in surprise as Buttercup pointed him out of the room and the man's gaze turned on him. Not dropping his eyes Ianto followed the man as he walked over to him.

'Buy you a drink?'

'I buy my own drinks, thanks,' Ianto smiled at Tony, 'Apart from when the barkeep is feeling generous.'

'I'll cut to the chase then shall I?'

Ianto rolled his eyes, Americans... 'If you don't mind...'

'What's your price?' the man looked him up and down.

'First I want to know why you talked to the others, second I want to know why you didn't use one of them. Then I'll tell you my terms.'

The man smiled, almost dazzling Ianto, 'I want the best in the business; someone who knows what they're doing and who can keep up with my pace.'

'You're setting the bar quite high there...'

The man snorted, 'Which is why I wanted opinions.'

'And...?'

'They tell me you're the top of the game. That you're in demand the most and they've never heard a customer complain.'

Ianto looked the man up and down, narrowing his eyes, 'You're grieving.'

'That's not your concern,' the man almost growled, 'What's your name?'

Ianto held out his hand, 'Bond.'

'Captain Jack Harkness.'

'That explains the coat...' Ianto almost sighed, 'Okay Captain. You can take me wherever you want, I don't do bare backing. That's not negotiable,' he paused, 'I'm thinking you want more than a quick hand job in the mens...'

'You catch on quick.'

Ignoring the sarcasm, Ianto continued, '£200 to fuck, blowjobs cost another £100 and if you want to do anything...extra...depending on what it is determines the price. I want a full description of what you want to do and I want half up front, cash only.'

Jack snorted, 'You mean you don't have a personal card machine?'

'This is Wales, not England. We're permanently stuck in the 80's technology wise.'

'Grab your coat then, you've pulled.'

Leading Ianto outside the pub, Jack opened a high tech looking SUV, 'Get in.'

'Where are you taking me?'

Jack shrugged, 'Whatever hotel is nearby.'

'You're springing for a hotel and a hooker? Someone is either loaded or desperate.'

'Aren't hookers supposed to be, oh I don't know, charming?'

Ianto rolled his eyes, 'No offence mate, but you need me,' he pulled the seatbelt across himself, 'You want to fuck and fuck and lose yourself in the oblivion so you don't have to think about anything,' he looked Jack straight in the eye, 'you're in the kind of pain you haven't been in for years, the kind of pain that drives people to jump off buildings.'

Jack studied him curiously, 'How do you know all this?'

'I'm good at reading people,' Ianto nodded ahead of them, 'Shall we? I know a cheap place a couple of minutes from here.'

Jack set off, the boy's words playing in his mind, 'You don't get that good at reading people.'

'Left here, and I did. My sister's better though,' Ianto gasped sharply.

'You have a sister?'

'I shouldn't have said that,' Ianto shook himself mentally, what the hell was wrong with him. No personal details. He didn't want to attach anything emotional to this, 'Ignore me. Must be the excitement of the new year...'

Jack laughed, 'You're not excited about that, and I think you're attracted to me.'

Ianto groaned, 'I don't do that sort of thing. It's too risky in a business like this, you're judged on the size of your wallet...nothing more.'

'Whatever you say.'

Ianto ground his teeth silently, 'Right here, then it's the building on the left.'

Jack pulled up in the buildings car park, 'Looks like an abandoned house.'

'It's bigger on the inside,' Ianto said casually as he jumped out the car.

Shaking his head, Jack followed him inside the building. He paid for the room and followed Bond upstairs. Unlocking the door, he turned the light on and flung his coat on a nearby chair, 'Not as bad as I thought.'

Ianto nodded, 'I told you so. Now what do you want to do to me.'

Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out a roll of money, 'Here, what'll this buy me?'

Counting the money, Ianto's eyes widened, 'This is a grand.'

'Yes.'

'Is this how much you meant to give me?' Ianto stared at the money, 'Really?'

Jack laughed, 'Yes. You said it yourself I'm a grieving man,' he pouted, 'Besides your stunning for someone in your line of work. I was expecting to have a coked up frat boy who didn't look half as delectable as you.'

Ianto blushed, immediately turning away as he chastised himself for his uncharacteristic reaction, 'This will buy you...pretty much anything you want.'

Jack almost smiled; he hadn't expected such a reaction from a slight compliment, 'Good. Because, Bond-' he grimaced, 'Please tell me that fee will cover hearing your real name.'

Ianto spun around, 'Why?'

'If I call you "Bond" I'll feel like I'm in a ridiculous spy film.'

'Have you even watched James Bond?'

Jack shrugged, 'I haven't watched much of anything.'

'Ianto.'

Jack did smile then, 'Alright, Ianto. Does it cover kissing as well?'

'I don't usually do that.'

'Well,' Jack almost slid over to him, running a hand down Ianto's waist settling on his hip, 'you didn't say no.'

Jack leant forward claiming Ianto's mouth in a bruising and talented kiss. Ianto felt the desperation for release and was stunned to find nameless emotions swelling up in his chest as his eyes slid shut and he leaned into Jack. Ianto pulled back, scared of the reaction this man had evoked in him.

'Something wrong?'

Ianto shook his head, 'Just...not something the clients usually go for. They usually want to use my mouth elsewhere.'

'All in good time, Ianto. We have all night.'

Ianto suppressed the shiver that Jack's words induced, and felt the relief wash over him as his emotions took a back seat fading into the numbness that he was used too. He could handle this, he was a professional. He could tell the kind of things Jack would need from him, total concentration. He'd dealt with people in the state Jack was in, they'd always been more vocal about their woes and most of them had been suicidal. Jack seemed different. Almost like...death wasn't an option. Mentally shrugging he rose to meet Jack again as he was lowered onto the bed, his hands automatically ghosting the planes of the body above his and his fingers seeking out the ways to divulge the clothing that covered them both. His breath hitched as Jack kissed him on a particular spot on his neck he never knew existed, his emotions swelling back up into his chest as Jack moved down, trailing a path of kisses as he moved down. Jack was treating him with care. The revelation shook Ianto. Care and kindness wasn't something he was used too, it was something that he needed to avoid at all costs. Ianto had been craving kindness his whole life, if he found it here he might be lost.

Bringing Jack back up to his face he kissed him senselessly, flipping them over so that Jack was underneath him he took control of the situation and let his hands and body move automatically, desperately retreating back into himself as Jack began to moan wonderfully underneath him.


	4. Number 4

**You guys make me so happy :) Thanks to all of you who have story alerted/ reviewed/ favourited etc. I genuinely cannot express how much it means to me.**

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><p>Jack Harkness had been distracted all morning. Again.<p>

It had been a few weeks since the night he had spent with the mysterious Ianto; he clicked his tongue against his teeth as he mentally chastised himself for not getting his last name. Searching for "Ianto" in the welsh database was like looking for an atom in a hay barn- impossible. He closed his eyes as he replayed the night out in his mind for what felt like the 30th time that morning. It was like the boy had known exactly where all of his weak spots were, automatically responding to every ripple Jack's body had made before Jack had even made them.

After their initial encounter Jack had almost been ashamed to want more. He returned to the pub that he'd picked Ianto up in and asked the bartender every night for a week whether Ianto- Bond- had been in, receiving a negative reply every night. The only explanation the man had to offer Jack was that if Bond had a good run, or had made enough cash to last him a while then he would take a few nights off. Jack had nearly laughed; Ianto had been surprised at the amount he'd received so it must've been a lot more than he usually made in one night. Jack had even left him extra in the morning, despite Ianto's assurance that he hadn't needed to give him anything more.

Sighing in a particularly girly way, he returned his attention to the file he'd been compiling over the last few weeks. He'd needed a new team after...

So he was on the task of finding one. He'd already managed to find one recruit- Suzie Costello. She had a wicked head of hair and an unrelenting attitude to all things alien; he didn't think anything could bowl her over. He'd found her chasing down a Foamasi after it had taken her handbag to examine and had nearly doubled over laughing as the woman had berated the reptilian for rudeness. After that the rest was history, she'd began practically absorbing the alien database on the computers, working until Jack forced her to go home. She was surprisingly skilled when he'd trained her in hand to hand combat and even more so during her weapons training. However, Jack knew that two people were not going to be enough. Suzie was good on the field but he needed a range of skills to complete the team. In a perfect world he wanted to have five operatives, a field expert, a technician, a doctor and someone who would be able to coordinate the team, someone back at base- although that position wasn't really high up on the agenda- and himself of course.

Looking back at the file he re-read Toshiko Sato's life story, she was being held in a UNIT holding facility nearby but that didn't deter him from wanting her. He was well aware of what she'd done to end up there and part of that made his determination to get her out all the more. The poor girl had clearly been blackmailed into it. As soon as he'd found her mother he'd retconned the whole experience from her memory so that she might have a peaceful life instead of always watching out of the corner of her eye. Jack smiled as he picked up the phone, oh yes; he was going to have Toshiko for his team.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTW

Ianto rubbed a hand over his face as he dragged himself back to his flat. It had been a long night- the fridge had broken so he needed to earn an extra £500 to get it repaired, a sordid joke in his opinion seeing as the thing had cost less than that to buy...

Pulling out his keys the door swung open before he'd even put one in the lock, 'Rhiannon.'

His sister had a thunderous look on her face, 'Where the fuck have you been?'

'Language, Rhi.'

She smacked him upside the head, 'Sod the language, where have you been all night?' She slapped his again as he tried to get across the room, 'I'm used to you coming in late some nights but it's been like this for a week!'

Ianto shrugged, 'I'm just pulling a bit of overtime at the newsagents to get the extra for the fridge.'

'Fuck the fridge,' she cut him off before he had a chance to comment on the language again, 'I've been up all night, practically pulling my hair out when you didn't come back.'

'Well I'm back now aren't I?'

She shoved him backwards, 'And now I'm really gonna kill you!' she shoved him again, 'You can't keep working like this, you barely sleep as is and you're killing yourself. I can't watch you do it anymore!' tears leaked from the corners of her eyes, 'I don't want to watch you suffer anymore, it's like being back there...' she swallowed noisily, 'I want you to get another job.'

Ianto sighed, 'Rhiannon, we've been over this, how many times are you going to make me have this conversation? I have no qualifications, no experience, nothing to make me an eligible employee.'

There was also the daunting fact that if anyone got wind of the kind of job he'd been doing for the last four years...

'But you're smarter than anyone I know, and you're quick at learning! And-'

'And what about pay? There is nothing I can get immediately that will pay as much as my current position does.'

'What positions that?' Rhiannon snorted, 'On your back? Front? Against the wall?'

Ianto made sure to keep the shock off of his features, he felt his breath still in his lungs as he looked down at his sister, 'I don't know what you mean.'

'Ianto Jones don't treat me like a child!' she shoved him again, 'I can read you like book even if you have everyone else fooled,' she stared defiantly up at him, 'I know exactly what kind of job you do, you may have been able to lie to me when I was younger but I'm not ignorant. There's only one way you could be making the amount of money you do in such a short time,' she pulled out the financial folder from the desk and threw it at him, 'I've been looking at our finances. Deposits made almost every other day of £300 at least, we've got enough in there to last us four years without either of us working.'

Ianto stared down blankly at the folder in his lap, at some point he had sat down on the sofa. Ianto found that he wasn't listening to what she was shouting at him; he had to concentrate on drawing the breath into his lungs- why had breathing become so difficult? His heart was hammering against his chest, beating against his ribcage as if seeking a way to burst through. His palms were getting clammy and his vision was cloudy, not blurring- he wasn't crying.

Rhiannon knew...

And Ianto Jones was experiencing the first panic attack in his terrible life. He realised belatedly that Rhiannon was rubbing his back and whispering soothing words rather than shouting at him. Ianto could survive anything as long as Rhiannon was kept safe from the knowledge of what he had to do to keep them surviving. It was the thing that had kept him going during their awful life; he could do it for Rhiannon, for the protection of her mind.

What would she think of him now? Was everything for nothing, had he endured all the pain and suffering at the hands of their parents, his punters, for her to leave him now? The thought was terrifying, he couldn't remember how to breathe, the edges of his vision becoming dark as Rhiannon's face appeared in his line of sight. She was crying; her hands on his face trying to calm him down; she was shouting now, something incomprehensible to his ears, but she didn't look angry- she looked scared. He blinked rapidly, dispelling the tears that had gathered and focused on Rhiannon, grounding himself with her presence.

Slowly the blood rushing in his ears became a dull roar, his lungs greedily sucked in the air he had deprived them of and his equilibrium tried to straighten out as he sat up.

'Are you okay?' Rhiannon stopped Ianto from getting to his feet, 'I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said it like that.'

Ianto closed his eyes, 'How long have you known?' his voice was rough, foreign to his ears.

'A while...'

Ianto felt his breath escape him again, holding up a hand to stop her from saying anything else. He was trembling, something he hadn't allowed himself to do ever. He was scared, confused, and angry and a tumult of other emotions he'd thought he'd boxed away for good- emotions he thought he'd lost. He let out a shaky breath as he tried to reign in the emotions that had burst through, 'You must think I'm disgusting.'

Rhiannon wailed, 'Oh Ianto! I would never think anything like that of you. I love you, you're my brother,' she wrapped her arms around him, 'Please believe me.'

Ianto scarcely heard her. How else would she think of him now? Whoring himself out to any passing man who showed a fancy and had a fistful of notes. Ianto felt disgusting. Something he'd never really thought about, he'd never thought he'd been doing anything dirty until he saw it through Rhiannon's eyes- the one person he cared about. The only other time he'd felt remotely repulsed by what he was was when he'd been with Jack Harkness. The Captain had come dangerously close to making Ianto see himself for what he was; in fact Ianto had been out of sorts since that night. Especially when Tony told him that Jack had been in looking for him for practically every night for a week. Never in a million years had Ianto dreamed that Jack would come looking for him, and Ianto didn't know what he'd have done if Jack had found him...probably have another panic attack...but then, Jack knew what he was and had still treated him with kindness...and had still come looking for him. Mentally chastising himself for thinking about Jack, again, for the countless time that day, let alone week, he brought himself back to what Rhiannon was saying.

'I'll get a part time job, I'm in sixth form anyway so it's not like I'm in all the time...or I could get a weekend job? Please Ianto, let me help.'

'Rhi...I don't want you to get a job. I want you to be able to enjoy what time you have to be young before you grow up. I don't want you to be like me...'

Rhiannon hugged him again, 'Ianto you've given me a wonderful life for the last four years. Now let me help you. It's not like I'd be the only one to have a job at my age, plenty of my friends have weekend jobs,' she smiled impishly, 'like Johnny, he's got a job down the butchers at the weekend.'

Ianto raised his eyebrow but didn't question the affection in his sister's voice, 'I don't know, Rhi...'

'Ianto, I'll get a job with or without your consent and I'll follow you everywhere you go until you get a real job,' she chewed on her bottom lip, 'you'd be looking after me if you stopped. I've been going out of my mind with worry every time you go out.'

Ianto felt relief wash through his body, calming his tense muscles and chasing out the lingering thoughts of doubt from his mind: Rhiannon really did love him, she wasn't going to go anywhere. Closing his eyes again, he almost smiled, 'We'll start looking in the morning.'

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

'Suzie Costello this is Toshiko Sato- she's going to be our new technician for at least five years...'

Tosh nodded meekly as she shook Suzie's hand, 'Pleased to meet you.'

Suzie took Tosh's chin in her hand and turned her face towards the light, 'Ouch! That looks like you've had a nasty run in with a lamppost, or something similar.'

Tosh looked up at Jack uncertainly, 'I was having a particularly clumsy day...'

Jack shrugged nonchalantly; he'd told Toshiko that she was all but free. It was up to her whether she wanted to tell anyone about her past, he wasn't going to go out of his way to elaborate or divulge information. Jack had always prided himself on being a good secret keeper; he had been a con man in a previous life after all.

'Alright girls, let's get cracking!' he rubbed his hands together as he stepped up to a work station, 'Toshiko, this will be your work space complete with computer and not much else. I'd run you through the system but I'll wager you'll be able to understand it better than me by the time the weeks out, if not the hour,' he swept past her, 'But there will be time for that later. First I want to give you the grand tour and a rundown of your...requirements,' he led her down through the hub stopping at various points to explain what he was showing her and what happened in each room, 'I'll want you to be the tech expert, of course, so you'll need to familiarise yourself with the archives- good luck.

'I won't expect you to know everything so come to me for questions otherwise you can take as long as you need to find your feet,' he paused in the shooting range, 'I'll probably give you weapons training and hand to hand combat training as well...but we won't worry about that until you're running at full capacity,' he led them back to the main hub, 'Today is just a run through so you can have a look at the gadgets for preparation tomorrow...any questions?'

Tosh shook her head, 'I don't think so,' she put her arm out to stop Jack leaving, 'I just wanted to say thank you, for everything.'

Jack pulled her in a brief hug, 'Happy too,' he chuckled when she gave a small squeak, 'that's another thing with me- I'm a hands on person,' he laughed as he let her go, 'Better get used to it!'

Jack smiled as he returned to his desk, Tosh was going to be a fine addition to his team and he was confident that she would be able to start on one of his projects by the end of the week- he'd wanted an upgrade of the system for some time but lacked the time and the knowhow, after a hundred years of basic technology at best he'd forgotten a lot of his 21st century knowledge.

Picking up a folder from his desk he began flicking through it haphazardly as his thoughts returned to Ianto. He hadn't been back to the pub in a while and wondered blithely if Ianto was back out on the streets earning his next pay check. The thought didn't sit well with Jack, he wasn't possessive or jealous by nature but the thought of that stunning young man with anyone else- anyone who could do anything for the right price- made his blood stir angrily. Tapping a pen against his desk, he considered his chance of meeting the young man again in the pub. Jack shook his head, he couldn't afford to get into all of that again, and he was already in deeper than he should be...and with the Doctor arriving soon...no. He couldn't, shouldn't, pursue with Ianto anymore. He had to move on and accept that it was unlikely that he would ever see the young man again, a thought that bothered Jack far more than it should.

Sighing, for what he vowed to be the last time, over Ianto he pushed their night together to the back recesses of his mind and began putting together his project proposal for Toshiko.


	5. Number 5

**Much more thanks to the good feedback! It makes my day when I get the email alerts. **

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><p>'Oh, Ianto! You are a tease, when are you going to finally agree to marry me?'<p>

Ianto chuckled, 'only when you clear it with your husband first Mrs. Knight,' he placed her drink on the table, 'and then I'll whisk you away and won't look back.'

Mrs. Knight pinched Ianto's cheek as she deposited a five pound note in his hand, 'That's for your lovely sister; tell her to buy something nice.'

'Oh, no I couldn't possibly-'

'You take it! She's a sweet girl and I want her to have it,' she gave him a light tap on the head, 'And no sneaking it back into my bag when I'm not looking!'

'You drive a hard bargain, Mrs. Knight,' he smiled at her, 'Thank you very much.'

'My pleasure for a handsome man! Now you'd best get behind the bar, I can see your boss giving me looks!'

Ianto nodded and thanked the woman again, making a hasty retreat behind the bar, 'Lord give me strength!'

Lisa giggled, 'How many is that tonight? Five? She'll be grabbing your arse soon if you don't slow her down!'

Ianto groaned, 'I do not want another repeat of last week. I still have the bruise from where she pinched me!'

'Well,' Lisa looked appreciatively at Ianto's bum, 'It does beg to be pinched...'

'Lisa Hallet,' Ianto gave her an almost stern look, 'Are you hitting on your subordinate?'

She laughed, 'And if I am? What are you gonna do, report me?'

'I may be forced to file a complaint...'

'But who would believe you?' she put on an innocent expression, 'Look at this face, I could get away with murder.'

'Oi, you two!' a voice boomed from the kitchen, 'Stop flaming flirting and get some work done! I can see at least four empty glasses from here!'

Ianto chuckled as Lisa made faces at the kitchen, 'He's such a slave driver- learn to have some fun Tom!'

'I'll have fun when I'm dead,' came the sordid reply.

Ianto shrugged and began clearing up tables, working in tandem with Lisa. It had been three years since he'd agreed to let Rhiannon help out and two and a half since he'd gotten his job working in the Old Superior. It was a classy pub in the nicest part of Cardiff, it wasn't huge like some of the pubs but that was its appeal. The customers came in looking for some nostalgia, for a real pub, not some cheap bar where the people were falling over themselves and shouting themselves silly to hear each other. Ianto could hardly believe it when he'd been hired- it had been Tom that had interviewed him and the man had been very gruff and despondent when talking to Ianto, but apparently something about him had appealed to Tom and he received a call the next day offering him a full time position as bar staff. Not that it had limited him to being behind the bar, Tom didn't like hiring people and so they were always understaffed forcing Ianto and Lisa to cover all sorts of jobs from bartending to cleaning the toilets. Rhiannon worked at the weekends and when she wasn't doing her university assignments or in classes. Much against Ianto's chagrin she had taken a place in Cardiff University turning down any other offer that came her way including a scholarship to Cambridge. When Ianto had questioned her about it she said she'd rather be near him and Johnny, reasoning that she didn't want to do anything that academic. Sure she was clever but she wanted to do what she wanted to do, which Ianto took both pride and annoyance in. So she'd started her nursing course in Cardiff, keeping top of the class and enough time to put hours in at the pub.

'Right guys, that's it. Bugger off back to your sad lives for another day,' Tom waved them away, 'I'll finish up here.'

Lisa shrugged at Ianto who smiled in return, 'Alright then, Tom. We'll see you tomorrow.'

Tom grunted in response, 'Oh, Ianto can you come in at ten instead of eleven? I want to drain the taps and it's more of a two man job.'

'Sure thing, Tom.'

Grabbing their coats they headed out into the brisk air, both lingering outside the pub doors.

'So, off anywhere after this or...?' Lisa asked.

Ianto shrugged, 'Need to visit a cash point briefly but other than that nothing really...'

'Ah, so...want to grab a drink maybe?'

'Yeah maybe,' Ianto smiled, 'Let me just check my finances, don't want to be a cheap date.'

They chatted amiably as they walked to the nearest cash point, a brief lull as Ianto typed in his pin. The smile dropping off of his face when the balance flashed up on the screen- he was £200 pounds under what he needed to be. Quickly calculating the bill estimation and rent due this month he realised he'd need to get at least £100 by the end of the week and they both weren't due to be paid until the middle of next month.

'Something wrong?' Lisa smiled.

'Uhh,' Ianto stared at the screen for another minute, his mind rapidly racing over his options. He'd been in debt with the landlord before and it was a week of non-stop hell until his resolve gave in and he ended up fucking a man under a bridge to make up the extra. After that he'd thought that he'd had a handle on the finances, the guilt of breaking his promise to Rhiannon weighing him down.

'Not wrong,' he continued after a moment's hesitation, 'just surprising...I'm sorry, I'm going to have to take a rain check on that drink.'

'Oh,' Lisa shook her head, 'Don't worry about it, I'll just have to catch you next time.'

Ianto was shocked to find himself actually disappointed at having to turn her down. He'd always assumed that he was...well, he'd never slept with a woman.

'Sorry Lisa, I promise I won't bail next time.'

'Think no more on it Ianto,' she patted him on the shoulder, 'I'll see you tomorrow then?'

Ianto nodded and watched her as she walked away from him. As soon as she was out of sight he practically ran to the district he knew so well.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

'Well that was fucking spectacular,' Owen grumbled as he came through the door of the hub, 'You couldn't have been any less use if you tried.'

'Shut up, Owen,' Suzie snapped back, 'I got it didn't I?'

'Yeah, after you pissed it off in the first place,' he huffed out a breath, 'I think you did it on purpose.'

'Don't flatter yourself,' Suzie sneered.

'Bitch.'

'Prick.'

'Children! What's with all the noise?' Jack shouted down from his office, stifling a chuckle when he saw Owen, 'What the hell happened to you?'

Owen scowled, 'Ask the sociopath over there.'

Jack raised his eyebrows, bemused, 'Miss Costello? Care to enlighten me as to why Owen is covered in...what I can only hope is jello?'

'More like jellyfish,' Suzie stifled a laugh, 'I may have been forced to splatter a Medusoid after it became hostile...'

'Yeah, after you insulted it!' Owen shouted from the autopsy room.

'The thing was hideous! I didn't mean too...it just slipped out.'

'You were just looking for an excuse to get back at me,' Owen growled, 'Just because I insulted your fucking shoes.'

'Then you'll think twice before insulting me next time won't you?' She flashed him a wicked grin, 'Get over it, Owen. Have a shower and you'll be fine- just your ego will be a bit bruised.'

Owen muttered something intelligible as he made his way to the bowels of the hub.

'Jack,' Toshiko's timid voice surprised him; she was so quiet she always managed to sneak up on him.

'Toshiko my beautiful wallflower, what's on your mind?'

Tosh smiled weakly, 'There was a weevil alert about two minutes ago, I've put the things in the SUV already and the coordinates are programmed into the GPS,' she paused briefly, 'I was going to ask Owen or Suzie to come with me because you seemed busy but...well.'

Jack chuckled, 'It's fine, Tosh. You stay here and keep working on...whatever you've been working on,' he brushed a piece of copper wire from her shoulder, 'I'll go deal with it.'

'Are you sure? I don't mind coming to help.'

'Don't be silly, I'm sure I can manage one weevil,' Jack smiled again, 'Besides I'm going to need you to run interference with Suzie and Owen while I'm gone.'

Tosh nodded seriously, 'I don't think I'll be heard if they start shouting though.'

'Just chuck a bucket of cold water on them if they start pissing on each other's legs,' he winked at her, ''I'll be back as soon as I can.'

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

Ianto rolled his eyes as the man he'd picked up went down on him clumsily, making him wince occasionally when he got carried away with his teeth. After he'd parted from Lisa he'd made his usual rounds in his old haunt, picking up the man easily and leading him to a nearby park that he used to do a bit of business in.

Biting his lip to stifle a yelp of pain, Ianto brought the man back up to his eye level, 'Sure you don't want me to do that?'

The man's eyes widened, he clearly hadn't done something like this before, 'You do that?'

Putting on his best smile, Ianto resisted the urge to laugh, 'I'll do whatever you pay me to do.'

He flipped the man over and dropped to his knees, his hands quickly remembering the routine he had been so used too. He ignored the rumble of guilt that echoed in his stomach, it wasn't like he had a choice and it wasn't like he was fucking him. A blowjob was easy. He loosened the man's belt buckle freezing when he heard and growl from behind him. Whipping around he was face to face with an animalistic creature, something clearly not of earthly descent. Unable to take his eyes off the creature he felt the man behind him grab his shoulders and pull him backwards, knocking him off his balance and freeing him from the spell the creature had him under. Picking up a hefty sized piece of wood from the ground he took an offensive stance. The man stared in horror at the creature as it sized them up.

'Oh God. What is it?'

At the man's words the creature pounced on him, knocking him flat on his back pinning him on the floor and going for his jugular. Ianto watched in horror as the blood poured from the man's neck, his strangled cries turning into bloody gurgles from his corrupted arteries. The man laid silent as the creature turned to Ianto. Holding up his branch Ianto stared at the creature, anticipating its first movement and dodging clumsily aside. He almost lost his footing when the creature slammed into him, knocking the breath from his body. Swinging the branch wildly he almost cheered when it connected with the creatures head stunning it momentarily giving Ianto a chance to put some distance between them. A short lived victory though as he felt the creature behind him, knocking him onto his belly making him crawl through the mud in a vain attempt to escape from it. It let out a vicious snarl and Ianto closed his eyes regretting so much of his life, when the heavy weight of the creature was lifted off of him and he could mercifully breathe again.

Getting to his feet he considered bolting and not looking back or picking up the branch and helping whatever or whoever had saved him from his alien attacker. Choosing the latter he froze as he saw Jack Harkness tackling the creature. Letting his body move instinctively he leaped forward brandishing the branch, hitting the creature repeatedly when it had Jack pinned, drawing it away from and towards himself. After another brief scuffle Jack managed to sedate the creature.

Ianto stared, his mouth hanging open at the sight of the man he'd slept with over three years ago. Jack was exactly as he remembered him- if not better. It had been a long time since he'd thought about him, giving up ever seeing him again after the second year had passed and he still thought of their night together. It had been a conscious decision for Ianto to forget Jack Harkness and now here he was.

Apparently Jack was just as surprised as Ianto was to see him.

Jack gawped at Ianto. Of all the places in the entire world this was not where he'd imagined seeing the young man again- of course he'd thought he'd never see Ianto again. But here he was, even more delectable that Jack remembered as he swept his gaze over every inch of the Welshman.

'What are you doing here?' Jack wasn't aware he'd even spoken until he realised that it wasn't Ianto who'd asked the question.

'I could ask you the same thing,' Ianto replied coming out of his reverie, 'What the hell is that thing?'

Jack didn't shift his gaze from Ianto's face, 'Wild dog.'

Ianto snorted, 'If that's a wild dog then I'm a monkey's uncle.'

'I knew a guy who had a sister that married a monkey...they were...interesting kids to say the least- well not exactly your regular run-of-the-mill monkey but-'

'What are you rambling about?'

'Sorry, it's a reflex when I'm surprised,' he smiled, 'But wow. You've- You're- Wow.'

Ianto thanked God that it was dark as he felt the heat rising far too easily to his face, he hadn't seen this man in three years and yet one comment could make him turn beetroot. Rolling his eyes he remembered the reason he had been here, 'Shit.'

Jack watched as Ianto knelt down next to the body of a man in the grass, 'Friend of yours?'

Ianto snorted, 'More like a paycheck- fuck,' debating morality he fished the man's wallet from his pocket, 'Guess he won't be needing this,' he pulled out a wad of cash from the man's wallet- easily over £300 in there. Ianto almost smiled save the guilt he felt from stealing from a dead man. But it was either steal from a dead man or find another man to suck off- he'd buy the man flowers.

Jack raised his eyebrows, 'That was a bit callous don't you think?'

Ianto decided to take a standoffish approach, 'He nearly bit my cock off,' he found himself unable to look at Jack; his emotions were all over the place.

'So you're still...' Jack's stomach rolled uncomfortably, 'I'd kinda hoped you'd stopped that.'

'I have,' Ianto shrugged, 'I'm a bit behind on money this month so...I don't have many options.'

Jack nodded, slightly relieved that Ianto wasn't still doing this on a regular basis, 'Oh. Well...'

'What is that thing, really?'

Jack sighed; he was in a really difficult situation. Protocol meant that Ianto was in too deep and needed to be retconned...but Jack was loathe to wipe their meeting out of the younger mans mind...but he didn't want to get Ianto involved in the dealings of Torchwood. Making a decision Jack tapped on his headset, 'Tosh, A civilian was killed in the vicinity of the weevil, I'm going to need cleanup...and...I'm bringing in a witness.'

'_Okay, Jack. I'll get on that now.' _

Jack tapped off his comm. link and smiled tightly at Ianto, 'If you want answers then you're gonna have to come to my headquarters.'

'Headquarters? What are you some sort of secret agent?'

'Something like that,' he hoisted the weevil up onto his shoulder, 'Coming?'

Ianto looked back at the man, 'What about-?'

'My team will deal with that.'

Ianto stared at Jack for a moment, if he went with him then Rhiannon would worry...but his curiosity would win out. He knew he was just delaying the inevitable. Biting his lip he nodded cautiously and followed Jack deeper into the woods.


	6. Number 6

**As always my thanks for the following this story is getting!**

**Just a quick note about the title of this fic: basically when I'd finished writing the first instalment of this story I wanted to upload it ASAP and obviously, for those of you have written your own fics will know, you have to give it a title before you can do that. So I turned to my wall of stuff for inspiration (basically a random collection of pictures, newspapers articles, sayings and wrappers etc) and one of the headlines pinned up is "Bang goes the Divine Creator" and the rest is history...**

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><p>Ianto nearly gasped as the pavement moved beneath his feet, descending into something straight from a sci- fi movie. His eyes widened as he took in every detail of the room, darting to and fro as he made a mental catalogue of potential escape routes- a habit he'd developed from the potential of picking up a nutter. He kept his face impassive as three pairs of eyes watched him and Jack descend on the lift, he wasn't scared exactly- he knew that Jack wouldn't hurt him, well he assumed- but he was still wary.<p>

As the lift locked in place Jack jumped down and offered a hand up to help Ianto down. Rolling his eyes Ianto jumped off the lift without help, 'I'm not that bewildered.'

Jack chuckled, 'Some people faint, I tell you it's a nightmare to keep them on the lift while it's coming down.'

'I can imagine,' Ianto continued looking over the spectacular room, 'So...there's a top secret base underground in Cardiff Bay...well I can see the appeal: good shopping, in built water feature...'

'You never said he was funny, Jack,' Suzie smiled sultrily, 'Or that he was good looking...but then with you I guess that's a given.'

Jack gestured to each member of his team in turn introducing them to Ianto who nodded curtly at each one of them as he was introduced.

'You know,' Jack paused, 'I never did get your last name.'

'Jones, Ianto Jones.'

Jack laughed, 'Isn't that practically the "John Smith" of Wales?'

Ianto rolled his eyes, 'I guess my parents weren't very imaginative.'

'Care for the grand tour?'

'There's more?' Ianto admonished, 'Something to match your ego?'

'How do you know about the size of my...ego?

Ianto raised his eyebrow, 'You'd have to have a fairly large ego to wear that coat...'

'Hey!' Jack pawed at his coat, 'What's wrong with it?'

Ianto shrugged, 'I didn't say anything was wrong with it...in fact I quite like it...'

'Really...well in that case-'

'Would you stop flirting, Harkness?' Owen shouted down at them, 'Have you no shame?'

'No actually,' Jack grinned as he ushered Ianto through the room, 'We'll start from the bottom and work our way up shall we?'

'You promise?' Ianto deadpanned as he was lead down some questionably dingy stairs.

They worked their way through the hub, starting in the archives working their way through the cells, crypt and various tunnels, flirting horrendously as they moved about, coming to a halt in Jack's office. Ianto ran his tongue over his teeth as he thought about al he'd seen and everything Jack had explained.

Aliens.

It shouldn't really come as much of a surprise he guessed, with all the potential in the universe it was pretty big headed to think that they were the only race to develop in the infinite space. He understood what had attack him in the park and where they came from, what they were doing, where they lived- he was never going near a sewer grate again.

Toshiko appeared in the office soon after them carrying two steaming mugs of coffee, 'I'm sorry my coffee making skills aren't up to much...but I thought you'd like a mug.'

Jack smiled sadly as she placed them on his desk, 'Thank you, Tosh,' he picked up his own mug and took a sip, 'Not bad at all.'

Ianto watched as she smiled meekly at them both before ducking out of the office. Something wasn't quite right here...but he couldn't tell what. He picked up his mug and perched on the sofa in the room taking a small sip after blowing on the liquid softly.

'So...you're probably the most important man I've ever had buy me...' he frowned at the odd after taste the coffee possessed, 'Sorry, that's probably inappropriate.'

Jack chuckled softly, 'I think you just complimented me, don't worry about it.'

Ianto felt a prickling in the back of his neck as if he were being watched; he'd always been pretty good at sensing his surroundings. Looking around surreptitiously he noticed the team crowded unnecessarily closely around Owen's work station...which happened to be the nearest to Jack's office. Looking up at the man himself Ianto noticed that Jack was watching him unnaturally closely...coupled with the taste in his coffee...Ianto could have laughed at his idiocy, 'You've drugged me,' four pairs of eyes focused on him entirely as he sighed and put his mug down, 'Stupid, Ianto. This is classified stuff not something a common man could know,' he felt unnaturally calm given he was about to die, 'It's the kind of "I'd tell you but I'd have to kill you" type thing right? Will it be quick at least? Will you look after my sister; give her a good excuse of what happened to me?' Jack began to laugh, 'I don't think this is very funny...'

'I'm not going to kill you! That's our own special blend of drug to make you forget what happened tonight.'

Ianto looked incredulous, 'Like forced amnesia?' his vision blurred, 'And something to make me sleepy?'

Jack nodded, 'Something to speed the process up...this time tomorrow you'll have forgotten you met me tonight...and everything else.'

'Seems like forgetting you is more tragic than anything else.'

'Because it is!' Jack forced a small laugh, 'Who would want to forget meeting me for the second time...I'm even more dazzling.'

Ianto grunted, in agreement or disapproval Jack wasn't sure, and then swayed precariously on the sofa before falling on his side, sound asleep. Jack took the opportunity to take in as much of the man's appearance as he could; revelling in the fact he had been able to see Ianto again and in turmoil at his being forgotten by someone else. Sighing he pushed himself off his desk and ran a hand through Ianto's hair and cupped the side of his face. Kissing him softly on the forehead, he moved him in a seated position and lifted him from the sofa, smiling when the young man nuzzled into his collarbone.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

The first thing Ianto felt when he woke up was a pounding headache, the kind that could only have come from a lot of drinking.

'I hope you feel like shit, Ianto!' Rhiannon sing-songed from the kitchen, 'You must have hit it pretty hard last night if you're sleeping in your clothes.'

Ianto groaned and struggled to order his thoughts beyond the pulsating ache radiating from behind his eyes. He hadn't gone out last night...had he? He was struggling to remember his own name let alone what had happened last night.

The smell of freshly brewed coffee hit him as Rhiannon made her way into his room, 'Here you are Cariad- coffee. Hot, strong and sweet just how you like it for a hangover.'

He opened his eyes a slit and attempted to smile into his pillow, 'Chhers.'

'Christ! You better get up soon or else you'll be late for the pub,' she gave him a quick kiss on the forehead, 'I'm off. I got a lecture on the breach position today.'

She was still muttering to herself as she left Ianto's room and the flat. Ianto stretched himself out in his bed, massaging his temples to try and get the blood flowing in his brain. He kept his eyes closed as he reached for the coffee, blowing on it gently before taking a sip. He smiled- Rhiannon was getting better at brewing. Daring to open his eyes, Ianto was surprised that the headache alleviated in the dappled light. Taking another sip he checked his surroundings, nothing out of place, no sign that a drunken man had stumbled through...

Because he hadn't been drunk.

The events of last night slammed back into him. Taking a punter, the creature- a weevil Jack had called it- Jack. Jack had been there and Jack's team...and that base- the hub? And telling him about...aliens...then drugging him. Saying that he wouldn't remember anything about last night...but it was as clear as day. The headache had been making him a little muggy...that must've been the sedative, anything artificial always made Ianto's brain sluggish the next day- it was the reason he hated taking Night Nurse when he had a cold. But he remembered everything, everyone.

What did that mean for him? Surely he wouldn't be allowed to know such things about the underworld of the government...but they didn't know he still knew. If he just kept a low profile maybe it would be okay. Ianto rolled his eyes, meeting Jack again had definitely been a bad idea. He could already feel his subconscious planning the next time they could see each other again, everything from a deliberate meeting to an "accidently on purpose bumping into each other". Besides it wasn't in Ianto's nature to be dishonest, especially with things that were objective...subjectively his morals were a little greyer.

No. He would have to turn himself in and let the chips fall where they may.

The rest of the day passed in a blur for Ianto. Now that he had made his mind up he couldn't concentrate on anything else- of course he did his job well and made sure to keep up appearances but he'd been distracted all day. The thought of what he would have to do, of what was going to happen to him...of seeing Jack again. Every time that certain distraction came to mind he couldn't help but smile, something that annoyed him greatly and stunned him entirely. The anticipation of what lay ahead meant that the day passed at a standstill for Ianto.

'Got a hot date?'

Ianto focused on Lisa, 'What?'

'You've been staring alternatively at the clock and the door almost all night!'

'Oh,' Ianto shrugged, 'No, just something I need to do.'

Lisa nodded, 'Must be something good.'

'What makes you say that?'

She shrugged, 'I dunno...you're distracted, not in an obvious way just in a...something good is going to happen way.'

'Sorry.'

'No, don't be!' she smiled, 'It's nice to see you happy about something for a change.'

Ianto snorted, 'What do you mean? I'm always happy.'

'I don't think you know the difference between content and happy, Ianto.'

'Is there one?'

Lisa mock hit him, 'Of course there is!'

Ianto smiled blithely, 'Well maybe contentment is happy enough for me.'

'Aim for the stars why don't you?'

He rolled his eyes, 'They say sarcasm is the lowest form of wit you know...'

'Then you must be lowest of them all seeing as sarcastic is your middle name.'

'What did I say about flirting on the job?' bellowed from the kitchen, 'get on with some real work for a change.'

'Slave driver!' Lisa shouted back, 'There's no one even in here yet!'

'Then make yourself useful, woman, and find something to clean!'

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

'What's the matter with you, Harkness? That's the thousandth time you've sighed today.'

Jack cursed himself inwardly, didn't he make a promise that he wouldn't sigh over Ianto ever again? But how could he help it when the boy had turned into such a fine specimen...one he would never get to try again because of a stupid weevil.

'I'm not sighing, Owen. I'm breathing...heavily.'

'Suit yourself, but if you "breathe heavily" in my direction once more be prepared to fend off a flying scalpel.'

'Someone is in a bad mood today.'

Owen grunted, 'You would be too if some bird led you up to the goal and wouldn't let you score.'

'Sport analogies? Really?' Jack chuckled, 'I never did understand why you people always get around a topic like sex by covering it with metaphors.'

'Yeah well some of us actually have British sensibilities,' Owen smiled tightly.

'Lord, kill me now!'

'Not everyone can be as loose as you when it comes to the bedroom, some of us like a bit of romance...'

Jack stared as Owen incredulously, 'Romance? What's romantic about pulling drunken women in alleyways?'

'It has its own charm...'

'With accompanying smell...'

'_Girls, please, you're both pretty. Can we please focus on coordinating Tosh and I?' _Suzie's tinny voice echoed over the comm. system.

'What coordinating? Tosh negates everything I say anyway, we haven't given you a direction for over half an hour,' Owen complained, 'I don't even know why I'm still monitoring you, it's a simple pick up job.'

'_Fine, fine. You and Jack go back to pissing on each other's legs, just turn off the comm. link if you're going to be verbal about it.' _

Owen rolled his eyes as he disconnected from Suzie, 'She's getting moodier.'

'You'd know...' Jack mumbled.

'What was that?'

Jack waved him away, 'Oh nothing, nothing. Just thinking aloud.'

Owen snorted, 'Don't strain yourself...'

Jack was about to throw a witty comeback out when movement on the CCTV of the plass caught his eye. He moved closer to the monitor, narrowing his eyes as he studied the figure that had appeared in the frame. Fingers moving over the keyboard, he zoomed in on the figure extrapolating the image and brightening it to get a clearer look. He almost gasped when he realised that he was looking at Ianto Jones who was in turn looking up at the water tower.

Owen came up behind Jack when the captain hadn't replied, 'Bloody hell. What's 'e doing back here?'

'Good question...coincidence?'

Owen shrugged, 'I don't think he's ever been here bef-' he stopped talking abruptly when Ianto began waving up at the camera.

'That's interesting...' Jack watched Ianto as he bobbed up and down alternately waving at the camera and looking around to make sure he wasn't being watched.

'Should I go get him?'

Jack shook his head, 'No. I'll go up,' pressing buttons on his vortex manipulator as he jumped on the lift, 'I'll see what's going on.'

Ianto almost smiled when he saw Jack appear in front of the water tower, a determined look on his face as he strode over with his coat fluttering in the breeze. That coat.

'Hello,' Jack said curiously, 'Can I help you?'

Ianto gulped, 'Maybe...'

'Do you know why you're here?' Jack ventured, there was a possibility that Ianto didn't consciously remember and his brain was just offering a subconscious echo of the previous night's events. Hope and suspicion crashed noiselessly against his ribcage- hope that Ianto remembered him and suspicion as to why he might.

'Well, I remember everything about last night.'

'You remembered...eventually? Something triggered it off or-'

Ianto shook his head, silencing Jack, 'No, I remembered as soon as I woke up- well the sedative made me a little muggy but I remembered everything clear as day...did you give me a faulty batch of that...drug?'

'No...' Jack had heard of people like this, the small percentage of the population that had a natural immunity to the effects of retcon. The joy he felt at not being removed from Ianto's memory was crushed by the dilemma of what to do with him now.

'Well Jones, Ianto Jones...I think you'd better come back downstairs with me.'

Ianto looked around slightly nervously, 'What are you going to do to me?'

'To be honest...I haven't got a clue.'


	7. Number 7

**Sorry about the delay, I had two assessments I needed to get done for uni so I've been working on them this week. **

**Thanks as always for everyone who reviewed, favourited and alerted!**

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><p>'Don't you think locking him in a cell was a bit much?' Tosh near whispered, ever since her experience with UNIT she had been wary of putting anyone in a cell without just cause.<p>

'Well what were we supposed to do with him?' Suzie spat, 'It's not like we can have him wandering about the hub, especially now we know we can't make him forget what he sees...' she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. The progress she was making with the glove was being hindered by this stupid welsh boy and every fibre of Suzie itched to get it back on her hand, 'I say we leave him to rot in the cell, remove his existence from Cardiff and get on with our lives,' she restrained herself from gazing over her shoulder and the object that obsessed her mind.

'I can't believe you'd be happy to just leave him down there!' Tosh snapped uncharacteristically, 'It's not his fault he's immune to retcon,' she rounded on Jack, 'I hope you aren't thinking that's a serious option,' Tosh baulked at his hesitation, 'Jack...you can't-'

'We're not leaving him to rot down there, Toshiko,' appeasing the Japanese woman. He wasn't going to let that happen to the beautiful Welshman in the bowels of the hub...but what was he supposed to do with him?

'We could send him to One...' Owen interjected lazily.

'He's not going to One,' Jack said with a finality he didn't realise he possessed; he'd rather Ianto was locked in the hub for the rest of his life than let Hartman get her claws into him. Just the thought of what Ianto would be subjected to in her "experiments" on people immune to retcon was enough to make his skin crawl with guilt.

'So what the hell are we going to do with him,' Suzie snapped, 'I'd love to chat about this all day but I have more important things to be doing, some people actually do work around here,' she looked pointedly at Owen.

'It's not my fault that I have to deal with sensitive chemicals that require me to wait around for days on end.'

'You could be doing some paper work or, I don't know, organising the archives to make our lives easier?'

Owen snorted, 'It's not my job to make your life easier.'

'And it's not your job to sit on your arse and play on that stupid gameboy either!'

'Okay kids, settle down or daddy's gonna have to give you both a time out,' Jack held out a hand to silence any further argument, 'Can we please just put our heads together without it resulting in anarchy, or potential murder?'

Suzie scowled and turned away from Owen who rolled his eyes and turned back to Jack, 'Why don't we just let him go then? It's not like he's going to tell anyone anything.'

'That's not actually an option anymore,' Tosh blushed, 'I already sent a report off to the head office about retconning a civilian...they'll follow up on it to double check.'

Jack groaned, 'Why is this the one thing that we're up to date on paperwork with?'

'Well that's buggered everything up then hasn't it? They'll come and take him to One anyway once they realise that he remembers everything,' Owen sighed.

'Unless...' Tosh mumbled, 'Unless we offer him a job.'

Suzie snorted, 'Oh yeah we're definitely looking for a bartender...how the hell would we justify hiring him after retconning him?'

'We could say he...he managed to trigger the memories somehow- we can work on the back story later!' Tosh turned to Jack, 'What do you think? Would that work?'

Jack rubbed a hand across his face; it would settle the problem of what to do with him...and probably keep him off the streets with the salary he'd get. The only thing that worried Jack was that he would most definitely be a distraction around the hub, a welcome distraction- an incredibly gorgeous distraction that would look ridiculously appealing bent over his desk, flushed faced and-

Jack cut that thought off in its tracks before it had a chance to catch up with his anatomy. Maybe hiring Ianto would be beneficial...but what would be his position...apart from underneath Ja-

Jack caught himself grinning like a fool, 'That would solve the problem,' he stood up from behind the conference table, 'Toshiko, work on a cover story for how Ianto would possibly have broken the effects of retcon. Owen if this is going to happen I'll need you to set up a medical record for Ianto on file and Suzie...since you're not especially enthused by any of this I'd like you to keep your mouth shut and get back to whatever you were doing.'

'And what are you going to do?' Suzie asked as they got up to leave.

'I'm going to work out what Ianto Jones can actually do and how that's going to turn into a real job...'

Somehow Jack didn't think a former rent-boy come bartender would have much in the way of...well...any experience in the real working world. Not that his skills would go unappreciated by Jack later down the line. Shaking his head as he entered the cells he smiled as his gaze alighted on Ianto, 'Well Jones, Ianto Jones, what am I going to do with you?'

Although Jack was smiling Ianto still felt as though he was treading on thin ice between life and death, 'Have you decided that yet?'

Jack nodded, 'I think we have,' tapping a few buttons the door to Ianto's cell swung open, 'But first I think we need to have a detailed chat,' he pulled Ianto out of the cell, 'Let's go up to my office, shall we?'

'This isn't just some sort of secret code for "You're about to get your brains splattered" is it?'

Jack laughed, 'No, no. It means that we need to talk.'

Ianto raised his eyebrow as Jack closed the door to his office behind them, 'You're not breaking up with me are you?'

'Wouldn't even dream of it,' Jack gestured for Ianto to sit down, 'We've decided what to do with you but it's gonna be...a little bit complicated.'

'Meaning?'

Jack leant back in his chair, 'Tell me about yourself.'

'What do you want to know?' Ianto was being more and more confused by the second, 'I don't see how this is relevant to anything...'

Jack shrugged, 'I just want to find out what skills you have before deciding anything permanently. What do you like to do? What hobbies do you have? What are you good at, bad at? What interests you and what can't you stand?'

'This sounds like an inter- wait...is this an interview?' Ianto stared incredulously at Jack, 'You're thinking about hiring me?'

'Well I can put down "Incredibly perceptive" on the skills list...' he gestured for Ianto to continue.

'Uh...I've never had a real interview before...unless you could the weird one I had with Tom when I started working at the pub,' he laughed nervously, 'I don't really know what to say...except that I guess that I'm a fast learner? I...dunno! I'm not really comfortable talking about myself...'

Jack hummed contemplatively; he did need someone to sort out the archives. He needed a paper pusher, someone to do all the jobs he hated...and to look good while doing them.

'How do you feel about the alphabet, Ianto?'

'Weirdest question I've ever been asked...and I was a prostitute...'

Jack laughed, 'How would you feel about being the resident archivist?'

'...You want me to be you're...secretary?' Ianto snorted, 'A paper pusher, really? I know stuff I really shouldn't and I'm pretty sure I have a near photographic memory and you want to hire me to file papers?'

'Eidetic memory, huh? That's going to come in very useful.'

'You're serious then, about wanting to hire me?'

Jack smiled, 'Are you worried you'll disappoint me?'

Ianto rolled his eyes but inwardly he felt as though his fears had been voiced. He'd never been anything of importance to anybody and working in a top secret facility would be an enormous responsibility...and more than anything, almost inexplicably, he didn't want to disappoint Jack.

'Are you offering me this job because there's no other way to deal with me?'

'Yes,' Jack sighed, that was too blunt, 'There are other options but I don't want to even consider them.'

'That bad, huh?'

'You have no idea,' Jack stood up and sat on his desk directly in front of Ianto, 'I know this isn't an ideal situation, but if I'm honest... I'd prefer to hire you than for you to have to still be...on the streets.'

'I have a real job now, you know.'

'And what were you doing shortly before a weevil attacked you?'

Ianto sighed, 'I don't do it often...'

'That's still too much,' he leant forward and put a hand on Ianto's shoulder, 'I'm sure you're up to it. You're intelligent, bright and you'd look damn hot holding a stack of papers.'

'I'm pretty sure intelligent and bright are the same thing.'

Jack rolled his eyes, 'Stop avoiding the topic. Yes or no?'

'I don't really have a choice do I.'

'I'd like to pretend you did; makes it seem more PC.'

Ianto chuckled, 'You're talking about political correctness after you drugged me and attempted to wipe my memory while harassing me through my interview?'

'I'm bitter sweet that way.'

Ianto smiled up at Jack, maybe working with someone so deliciously eccentric would be fun. The fact that he was good looking was just an added bonus, 'So...when do I start?'

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

Rhiannon was staring out the window, nervousness twisting her gut. Ianto's shift ended at 11 and it was nearing dawn. She knew they were a little behind in money this month but he wouldn't...would he? Not tonight. Of all nights.

The key turned in the lock and she ran over to the door, flinging herself in his arms as soon as he walked through the door.

'Woah, Rhi, what the hell?'

'You idiot!' she smacked him on the arm, 'Where the hell have you been?'

'I- I just went out after work,' Ianto saw Rhiannon's eyes fill with tears, 'Rhi, what's wrong?'

'I had something I needed to tell you, and you didn't come back. I've been waiting for hours for you to come back and you didn't.'

Ianto took her in his arms and directed them to the sofa, 'Calm down, cariad. What's the matter?'

'I- I- I,' she took a deep breath to steady herself, 'You know I've been seeing Johnny for a while now...'

'Three years give or take...'

Rhiannon nodded, shaking loose a few more tears, 'Well he- I- we-...I think I'm in trouble.'

'I don't understand...what are you-' the revelation hit Ianto like a brick force.

Rhiannon was trying to tell him that she was pregnant.

Ianto stood up sharply, 'Rhiannon Jones. Are you pregnant?'

She nodded, her face crumpling as more tears sprung to her eyes, 'What do I do, Ianto?'

'How do I know?' he closed his eyes, calming the flare of panic he felt lick up his chest, 'What do you want to do, Rhi?'

'I don't know.'

'Well, you have two options. You can keep it or...not,' Ianto sat back down, 'Look, Rhi. Whatever you decide to do I'll help. I'll always help you, haven't I my whole life? I'm not about to stop now.'

'Thank you, Ianto. I don't know what I'd've done if I didn't have you.'

'Probably dissolve into anarchy...' he chuckled, 'I guess now's a good time to tell you that I got a new job.'

She looked up at him sharply, 'You were looking for a new job?'

'I kinda...fell into it. I met a guy who said I was what he was looking for...' Ianto looked off dreamily for a second, 'and it pays well, very well.'

'How well?'

Ianto smiled, 'Well enough to move to Cardiff bay.'

'No. Way,' Rhiannon squealed, 'Oh, Ianto that's incredible!'

'And I guess it couldn't have come at a better time...'

'Are you joking about my serious life changing predicament?'

Ianto pretended to look awkwardly around, 'N..o...'

She smacked him on the arm, 'Ianto! It's not funny! It's serious.'

'I know, I know. I'm sorry...' Ianto wrapped an arm around her again, 'Have you told Johnny?'

'Not yet.'

'Ouch.'

Rhiannon snuggled further into Ianto's arms, 'Help me? I mean- I could barely tell you and your my brother...how am I supposed to tell Johnny. Oh God. I could be ruining his life with one conversation.'

'Or you could be giving it a purpose. It's not like Johnny was going to go far in the world anyway- don't look at me like that! You know He's not the sharpest tool in the box. And he's not ambitious like you are.'

'Better make that were...'

Ianto pulled away from her, 'That sounded like a decision to me.'

'What if I'm like her though...and what if Johnny turns out like-'

'Rhiannon. You are not our mother. Your kind, thoughtful, dependable and you can handle stress. And I can pretty much tell you that if Johnny was even a lick like our father then I would have kicked his arse out of your life years ago.

'I promise you I will help you no matter what happens. Even if he...well let's just tell him first.'

She nodded sadly and gave him a weak smile, 'Thank you...I guess we should go to bed,' she giggled, 'We have to be up in a couple of hours.'

'Hey, we're experts at getting by on no sleep, don't sweat it.'

'It's going to be okay?'

Ianto nodded and watch her walk into her bedroom. How the hell was it going to be okay? Ianto had been struggling to reign in his panic the whole way through the conversation- he'd learnt long ago that if he forced his mind to be calm then Rhiannon wouldn't pick up his emotions so easily. Now she'd left the room his mind raced over everything. He went from wanting to punch Johnny in the face to crying on the man's shoulder out of sympathy. They were only 19 for god's sake. He supposed it could be worse, this could have happened when they were 16 and then they would have really been up shit creek. At least Rhiannon had some qualifications and Johnny had some money coming in from his job...whatever it was he did...and Ianto himself was about to get a hefty pay rise- seriously what the hell did Torchwood do to warrant earning that much money?

Ianto felt his mind wandering to the prospect of his new job; Jack still hadn't figured out exactly what his position would be- although Ianto had a few ideas of his own that he was sure Jack would be up for... Rolling his eyes, he shuffled off the sofa; already having sexual thoughts about the new boss and he hadn't even started yet, oh yeah. He was going to love this new job.


	8. Number 8

**A thousand apologies for the length between updates! I have no excuse that would even account for the time I've kept you waiting all I can say is here you are…finally!**

* * *

><p>'What do you mean you have a new job?' Lisa pouted, 'You can't have a new job that was my line!'<p>

Ianto frowned, 'What do you mean?'

Lisa grinned, 'I just got offered a fancy office job up in London. I was gonna tell you and Tom today.' She pouted again, 'Way to steal my thunder, Jones.'

'Lisa that's amazing,' Ianto bundled her up into a hug. 'I didn't even know you were looking for another job.'

'Nor me to tell you the truth. But my friend up in London works for this place called- oh no wait, I'm not supposed to give information about it out. It's some top secret government thing,' she tapped her nose.

Ianto frowned again, it sounded eerily similar to his own situation. He had been told that Torchwood had other bases, the main one being in London, but surely Lisa couldn't be going to work for the same organisation as him in the same week. It had to be a coincidence, yet Ianto had decided that the universe was rarely so lazy. 'What so like MI5 or something like that?' he half teased.

She laughed, 'That would awesome! Can you imagine me with a gun?' she brought her hands together in the shape of a gun, 'I would totally rock that look.'

'You definitely would,' he grinned, 'with a matching super-tight bodysuit to match. Downright sexy if you ask me.'

'Am I hearing this right?' Tom poked his head out from the kitchen, 'Not only are you two flirting on the job, but I'm going to have to hire new people?' He sighed. 'You know how I feel about people...' he retreated back into the kitchen mumbling something incoherent while Ianto and Lisa grinned at each other.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWWTWT

The morning of his first day at Torchwood came all too quickly for Ianto's liking. His nerves bubbled over in his stomach, something he wasn't accustomed too. The only thing he could equate it too was the fact he would get to see Captain Jack Harkness again, and that was definitely worth getting butterflies over. Straightening out his maroon tie he gave himself another once over in the mirror. He knew that the suit was probably overkill, seeing as none of the other team members seemed to follow a particular dress code, but he wanted to make an impression on Jack – a train of thought he still hadn't analysed in too much detail as of yet. Besides, Ianto loved that he finally had an excuse to wear a suit. He felt like he'd actually managed to get somewhere in the world, that the years of drudgery and abuse weren't for nothing. He nearly felt proud of himself. Nearly.

'That looks good on you,' Rhi mumbled through her toast. 'Dressing to impress someone?'

'What makes you think that?'

She shrugged, 'That's your favourite suit. You only wear it on special occasions.'

'First day of work isn't a special occasion?'

'I guess.'

Ianto sighed. Rhiannon still hadn't told anybody about her pregnancy – including the father. He was growing accustomed to the idea that he would be an uncle; he would even go as far as to say he was looking forward to it. He had no doubt that once Rhiannon had decided to keep the baby she would follow through. She'd always stuck to her word and never had she once broken a promise to anybody that Ianto knew of. He supposed that was a character strength gained from seeing all the false promises their mother had made and broken to each of them.

'Rhi, you really have to tell Johnny today.' Ianto folded his arms, 'You can't keep putting it off like this.'

'I know...but it's difficult. What if he leaves me? What if he wants to get rid of it...or is disgusted with me?'

Ianto wrapped his arms around his sister, 'But what if he's delighted? Cariad, you know how people feel better than anyone I know. Surely you can guess what his reaction will be; you've been with him for a long time now.'

Rhiannon sighed, 'I really need to tell him.'

'Yes, you do. I'll be with you every step of the way, Rhi. Don't let yourself worry.'

She nodded, 'Okay. I'll call him over tonight for dinner.'

'I should be back by 7pm latest.' He gave her one last squeeze, 'Now finish your breakfast and get to your lectures.'

'Good luck with your first day, Ianto.'

Ianto smiled, 'I'm going to need it.'

TWTWTTWWTWTWTWTWTTWTW

Captain Jack Harkness practically bounced out of his office, sweeping Toshiko into an impromptu dip and he passed her in the main hub.

'Jack!' she quickly righted herself, 'Be careful of my laptop!'

He grinned, removed the laptop from her hands, and swept her into a twirl that was dizzying for any and all involved in the sight of the act. 'C'mon Toshiko, show me what you got!'

Tosh blushed furiously, snatched her laptop from the desk where it had been placed and mumbled a train of Japanese obscenities under her breath as she walked away.

Jack shrugged, 'some people just don't want to have fun I swear.'

'Someone's in a good mood,' mused Suzie. She was distracted but she couldn't let anybody know. It was business as usual as far as Jack was concerned; she didn't want to draw attention to her increasing obsession and hunger for the power of the glove. She was scared of it but she was in love with the fear. She exalted in it. 'This wouldn't have anything to do with the new boy starting today would it?'

Jack shrugged, 'Is there someone starting today? I had no idea...'

'Don't play that card with me, Harkness,' Suzie laughed. 'You're dying to sink your claws into that poor unsuspecting boy.'

Jack smirked, 'Never had a complaint yet.'

Suzie rolled her eyes, smirking when the proximity alarms sounded to announce the arrival of Ianto Jones in the above ground tourist office. 'Better get up there, Harkness. Don't want to keep the office boy waiting.'

Jack wiggled his eyebrows in a seductive manner, striding definitively towards the lift, grabbing his coat on the way. Everybody loved the coat.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTW

Ianto checked his watch again. He was two minutes early. He would have been twenty minutes early but he had hesitated for a long time in the train station. He would have waited on the plass but he knew that Jack could see him from there. It definitely wouldn't do to seem too keen; he didn't want to give Jack the satisfaction or that kind of power over him. Even if Ianto was already well and truly under the spell of that man. Or maybe it was just the coat. God, that coat.

Ianto had carefully arranged his features into a passive mask of subtle curiosity as he had left the train station, his stomach still trying to form knots in his intestines. He wondered idly what sort of meal would accompany Rhi's big announcement to Johnny tonight on his way to the tourist office. When he reached the front door he'd immediately let himself in, he pretended he was more confident and calm than he was – he'd got a lot of practise doing that when he was younger. He could already feel the eyes behind the camera on him as he stood at the desk, casting sidelong glances at the mouldy and out-of-date brochures in the rack, the dust was downright terrifying.

Ianto nearly jumped at the sight of the east wall of the tourist office swinging out of place, revealing the man he'd been dying to see since the moment he woke up. Not that he'd ever admit that, he wasn't even sure he'd admitted it to himself yet.

'Ianto Jones. Are you intentionally trying to turn me on?'

Ianto blinked slowly, he hadn't even said anything yet and already Jack had completely thrown him. 'I…what?' Smooth.

'That suit.' Jack moved closer to Ianto, 'It looks absolutely phenomenal on you…the only way it could look even better would be on the floor…'

Ianto rolled his eyes, secretly pleased and vowing to go and buy a dozen suits immediately. 'Well, I thought the coat might appreciate having a little friendly competition in the office.'

Jack smirked, 'They might appreciate a little time on the floor together…'

'_You realise we can all hear you down here, right?' _Owen's disgusted voice filled the room, _'If you're going to flirt you might consider turning your comm. off first, some of us like to keep our breakfast's down.' _

Jack chuckled, 'Owen you continue to be such a charmer.' Smiling at Ianto, Jack gestured to the doorway, 'Shall we?'

Ianto nodded and followed Jack down to the bowels of the hub, listening as Jack told him his personal access codes for the hub. He felt his heart leap into his mouth once again when he walked out from behind the rolling cog door, taking in the magnificence and sheer magnitude of the space that dominated the underground of the plass. He followed Jack as he was given a secondary tour of the hub and a reintroduction to the rest of the team.

They finished where they had started, at the entrance to the hub. Jack turned to Ianto, 'You think you can handle everything?'

Ianto raised his eyebrows, 'I think I'm incredibly capable of handling anything you want me too.'

Jack laughed a beautiful sound that bounced off of the metallic walls causing Ianto to smile, pleased he was the one that had caused it. 'Oh yeah. I'm not gonna regret this decision in a hurry.'

Owen sighed, 'When you two are done verbally fucking each other…'

'Can't a man flirt in peace without judgement?' Jack threw his hands in an overly dramatic gesture. 'You guys are so 21st Century; where I'm from it would be considered rude not to outrageously flirt every chance you got.'

'You'd flirt with a table if you got the chance,' Owen rolled his eyes. 'I thought you'd like to know that we have a fairly large rift alert, pretty sure it spat something out.'

Jack growled, 'Get the SUV ready for pick-up,' he swept through the hub, coat tails flying behind him. 'Tosh any idea what came through?'

Toshiko was typing furiously, her eyes never moving from the monitor, 'Not sure. If the system was up-to-date I might be able to produce a more accurate guess.'

'If that's another subtle way of telling me the database sucks, then you really don't know what the word subtle means…'

A quick smile passed over Tosh's features gone as quickly as it came, 'Cyborg…maybe. It's an organic life-form integrated with cybernetics…not entirely humanoid…' she shrugged. 'That's the best I have to offer.'

'Fair enough.' Jack practically ran through the hub, 'Suzie! Owen! Let's get a move on. Tosh you stay here and coordinate – teach Ianto while you're at it, he'll take over as hub body.' Jack grinned salaciously, 'I'm sure he'll pick up the system in no time…he's a quick learner.'

Ianto rolled his eyes as Jack winked at him. Shaking his head in mock disapproval as he made his way over to Toshiko's desk.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

Ianto had indeed all but mastered the system by the time the team had returned. Tosh had been an excellent teacher—mainly because Ianto was an excellent learner. She'd hooked up his own station using the spare desktop she had rebuilt a few days before, and he explored the system thoroughly. He knew the ins and the outs of it and was confident enough that he felt sure that he would be able to coordinate the team and track the rift readings, something that Tosh had spared no detail in explaining. He had liked listening to her as she showed him how the system worked; she seemed to light up when she was walking him through the technology database and the information programme that she had designed. She also spared no detail in explaining exactly how she had revamped Torchwood's OS, liberating the network from the simple system it once was.

Ianto had wasted no time and had already straightened up the obvious parts of the hub that were in disarray. He'd wanted to tackle a few of the work stations but until he knew exactly what was important to who and why he decided he'd back off. Instead he'd wandered around the archives for a bit trying to sense a feel of how it was organised. Ianto promptly decided that it wasn't in any order of any kind that he knew of and so he set about trying to figure out exactly how he should do it. Alphabetical would be problematic as he didn't know the rules of the alien alphabets he was sure to stumble upon…yet. He'd decided to organise it by date collected as everything came with its own personal pick-up date. He felt oddly contented as he'd wandered about gathering as many files as he could to take back up to the main hub with him. He knew that his made-up position wasn't the most glamorous part of being a member of the Torchwood team, but he still couldn't help but feel as though he was doing something that actually mattered for a change. Even if only a little.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTW

The proximity alarm squealed as the team walked through the cog door. Ianto looked up from the file he'd been reading to see a strange looking creature held between Jack and Owen. Suzie was following close behind then and simply returned to her work station. Ianto frowned as they tussled with the creature, taking it down to the cells where he had once been placed.

'What are they going to do with…it?' Ianto asked.

Tosh barely looked up from her screen, 'If it was hostile then it'll stay in the cells until we can return it to wherever it came from. If it was passive then Jack relocates them until we can send them back.'

Ianto nodded, nearly smiling as Jack came back into the main hub.

'Can you believe it! A Chelonian of all things. Can't even remember the last time I saw one of those guys. Part humanoid, part cybernetic, and part tortoise. Tortoise! Who looks at a tortoise and says "Hey. You know what would make a great warrior race? Tortoises!".' Jack chuckled. 'I tell ya, it's worse than making a screwdriver sonic.'

Ianto suppressed a confused frown, 'Can I get you anything, Sir?'

'Sir? I definitely like the sound of that.' Jack smirked, 'I wouldn't say no to a hot cup of full bodied coffee.' Seduction dripped off of every word.

'I believe that's harassment, Sir.'

Jack grinned, 'You know what else? Chelonians are fantastic florists.'

TWTWWTWTWTWTW

The rest of the day had passed with varying degrees of excitement. Ianto had found himself running between the archives to the main hub more frequently than he had expected. The team had been running around the city for the better part of the afternoon, with Ianto having to coordinate Tosh and Owen to retrieve an extraordinarily loud device that resembled a can opener, and directing Suzie and Jack to take down a rogue Weevil. It had been challenging. As he tapped off the comm. link in his ear he leant back in his chair, smiling and satisfied at the progression of his first day. He reached forward and grabbed a device that he had brought up from the archives to log into the system. The file that came with it didn't give much indication of what the device did, there was a scrawl that could have been the devices name but it was too messy to make out. Was that a "G" or an "R"? The object fit comfortably in the palm of his hand. It resembled a ball but was deceptively heavy, made of some sort of alien alloy. Rolling the device in his hand, Ianto pressed his finger into the small indentation on the surface. The surface opened suddenly making Ianto jump and drop the device which, instead of hitting the ground, hovered in the air. Frowning at the object Ianto went to grab it again to find that it moved just out of his reach. Tutting, he tried to move closer realising a fraction of a moment later that the object wasn't moving he was. Fighting the rising hysteria of being unable to control his body, he grabbed at his work station, his legs rising further into the air. He tapped on the comm. link in his ear, 'Uhm just out of curiosity, Jack. There's nothing in the archives that could kill me, right?'

'_Ianto, what exactly are you doing to my archives?' _

Ianto stifled a squeal as the table began to slide across the floor, 'Nothing, nothing. It was just…idle curiosity.'

Jack huffed, _'As long as people are doing their job, then no. Nothing could outright _kill _you.' _Then after a moment, _'But I guess some things could potentially maim…'_

'Oh good. Just what I want to hear.'

'_We're pulling in now. You can show me whatever device you want to log onto Tosh's pretty little programme.' _

Ianto heard the comm. link go dead and groaned. This was going to be downright humiliating. Jack was going to take one look at him, wonder why he had even bothered with such a pathetic excuse of a person and send him packing off to…wherever it was he would have had to have gone originally. Ianto wondered whether Rhi would be able to go with him and whether Johnny would still be in the picture.

As the proximity alarm sounded, Jack strode into the hub. As his gaze alighted on Ianto struggling to hold onto a desk as his feet were pointed definitively at the ceiling. Stifling a giggle he casually walked up to the Welshman, eyes appreciatively taking in the sight of his flushed face and the contours of the body beneath the shirt.

'Having trouble, Jones?' Jack laughed, 'didn't your mother ever warn you not to touch another man's ball so carelessly?'

'Hilarious.' Ianto grunted, 'My mother probably didn't foresee the need to warn me about your balls.' The desk began to lift off of the floor, 'If you feel the inclination to help that would be excellent, by the way.'

Jack chuckled, 'Would if I could, kiddo. That delightful object there is a grav globe, perfectly harmless…unless you're too high when the effects wear off. Good thinking grabbing to the desk.'

Ianto groaned, 'Are you telling me that I activated some sort of anti-gravity device?'

'I knew I hired you for a reason.'

'And here I was thinking you'd hired me for my pretty face.'

Jack winked, 'Oh, trust me. Your face isn't the only thing I'd hire you for don't even get me started on your fabulous-'

Tosh interrupted Jack by letting out an uncharacteristic shriek. 'Oh my God. Ianto! Are you okay?'

Ianto tried his best to grin, 'I think if someone could tie me down I'd fare better.'

'I volunteer as tribute!' Jack shrugged at the blank expressions, 'What? You haven't seen that movie yet? Absolute classic.'

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

Rhiannon paced in the flat nervously, flitting from the oven to the window. Ianto should be back by now and Johnny would be here any minute. There was no way she could do this without Ianto. What if Johnny really didn't want to have anything to do with her after she told him?

She jumped when she heard the key in the lock, rushing over to the door, 'Ianto where have you bee-'

Ianto was pushed through the door by a ridiculously good –looking man in a coat that could only be described as overkill. He reached out his hand, 'Nice to meet ya. Captain Jack Harkness.'

She took his hand and shook it slowly, 'Uh huh. Right,' his lilting American voice masking something just beneath the surface, 'I'm Rhiannon, Ianto's sister. Pleasure to meet you. Ianto, you've never brought anyone home before.'

Ianto smiled tightly, 'This is my boss, Rhi. He was uhh making sure I got in okay.'

They all stood awkwardly in the doorway, the Captain's grip on Ianto's arm not gone unnoticed by Rhiannon. 'I see…uhm would you like to stay for dinner?'

Ianto cut off whatever Jack was about to say, 'No, no he wouldn't. I mean maybe he would,' he turned and looked gracelessly at Jack, 'but he can't. Not today I mean. This dinner is a huge deal for you and you're always too nice to people. Not that you're not welcome, Sir- Jack-'

Rhiannon giggled, rarely had she seen her brother so flustered, 'That is true. I'm really sorry, Captain-'

'Jack, please,' he flashed her a wicked grin.

'Jack. But it is true that this is an important dinner for me. Of course you are welcome to come back any time you like; I make a truly delicious hot pot.'

'Ah don't worry about me; I've got some things to take care of anyway. I'm, err, just gonna help your brother to his bedroom.'

Ianto scowled at him, 'Not like that. I had a…slight accident at work and am having difficulty walking is all.'

Rhiannon rolled her eyes, 'You know you'd make better liars if you weren't so nervy.'

Ianto nodded, 'Ah yes. My sister is incredibly gifted at picking up on other people's emotions.'

'Really,' Jack leant forward, closing the gap between him and Rhiannon, 'Low level empaths are rare in this time.' Jack stared at Rhiannon with a quiet intensity, 'Looks like both of the Jones' are talented.'

'And exactly which of my brother's talents are you referring to?' This man was dangerous, not psychopath dangerous, but there was something she couldn't quite figure out. And that worried her. She was able to pick up on every emotional shift in another person. She'd been honing the ability since she realised she had it. No one had been able to shield themselves as well as this man.

'Rhiannon!' Ianto snapped, 'That's enough. I'm going to change...' Ianto shifted awkwardly and quickly clung onto Jack's coat, 'If you'd help me, Jack.' Jack grinned at him. 'Help me to my room. Room.'

Rhiannon watched them as they made their way to Ianto's room. Mentally shrugging herself back into worrying about Johnny's impending arrival. Captain Jack Harkness was mysterious, but he wasn't threatening enough to make her worry that much. The sexual tension between him and Ianto could be cut with a knife. Although she decided that that particular man could probably create sexual tension with a dining-room chair.

TWTWTWWTWTWTW

Jack started giggling the moment they got into Ianto's room.

'Would you shut up?' Ianto closed the door, hovering slightly above the floor when Jack let him go. 'This is not funny! I've got to have one of the most serious dinners of my life and I'm still air borne!'

Jack put his hands on Ianto's waist, shutting the Welshman up and bringing his feet back to the floor, 'I could always stick around and keep you on the ground.'

Ianto tried not to notice how nice the feel of Jack's hands on his waist felt, not to mention how clothes just felt like a hindrance. 'While I appreciate the offer, I feel as though my sister might begin to wonder why you couldn't keep your hands off me.'

Jack laughed, 'Trust me. There's no way that girl is wondering anything about you and me. She knows exactly where we stand.'

'Face to face?' Ianto wriggled out of Jack's grip floating towards his dresser in an attempt to grab a change of clothes.

Jack came up behind Ianto, guiding him closer to the dresser, 'More like ass to-'

'Let's just get me some clothes before we even think of finishing that sentence,' Ianto felt his face flush, almost thankful that they were arse to…well.

'When did you become such a prude?'

'Since you became my boss?'

Jack tutted, 'Don't pull that crap with me, Jones. You've been flirting outrageously with me all day. You can't lead me up the field and not let me score a touchdown.'

'Sports metaphors? Really? Could you be any more American right now?' Ianto eyed up his free weights in the corner of his room, 'You think that would work?'

'The sports metaphor?'

Ianto sighed, 'No the weights to weigh me to the floor.'

'We are definitely not on the same page, are we?' Jack flopped onto the bed, 'C'mon I bet we have at least ten minutes before your sister comes looking for you. Imagine what I could do to you in ten minutes.'

Ianto moaned internally, subtly adjusting the front of his trousers, 'I'm more than aware of what you could do in ten minutes. I've had you for a whole night before, remember?'

'How could I forget?'

Ianto turned to look at Jack, unable to assess the feeling that confession had provoked. He drank in the sight of the American sprawled out on his bed, as though he'd been there a million times before. Although he'd thought that working for Jack would be a wet-dream come true, he hadn't thought about the way it might affect him. He and Jack had had one night together years ago and he'd been unable to get the man out of his head for months and months after. Just what was working with him in close proximity, every day of his life do to him? Ianto was scared. He knew he'd fall in love with Jack if he let himself indulge in the man day after day, night after night. And he didn't actually know what kind of man Jack Harkness really was. What if Ianto would only be another notch in the belt? Just another lover in a string of many? Ianto wasn't sure if his soul could take it. He couldn't love another person only to have them betray his trust like his parents had all those years ago. What if this job had been a mistake?

'Could you- could you pass me those ankle weights?'

A quizzical look passed over Jack's face before he got up to retrieve the weights, 'Is this some weird 21st Century guilt about having a mind-blowing orgasm while someone is in the next room?'

Ianto snorted, 'Yeah, something like that,' he bent down to affix the weights to his ankles, smiling when the added weight kept his feet in contact with the floor. 'Not to mention the fact that this room doesn't have a lock. I'd like to avoid an extremely awkward conversation with my sister if you don't mind.' The excuse wasn't too shabby; Jack had almost provided him with it himself. Besides it was basically true. He'd explain himself properly to Jack another time.

Jack smiled and nodded, 'Until tomorrow then?'

'Bright and early.'

* * *

><p><strong>Again my darlings terribly sorry about the inexcusable absence. I'll try harder! Lovelovelove. <strong>


	9. Number 9

**Told you I'd try harder! Unfortunately I have a dissertation to write as well :/ Don't you worry though. I won't abandon you again! **

* * *

><p>A year had passed since Ianto Jones first started at Torchwood. Rhiannon had moved out and into her own flat with Johnny, the proud parents of Mica Davies. Johnny, of course, had been delighted when Rhiannon had told him that she was expecting and he had immediately started saving up for a down payment on a place of their own. Ianto was happy to see his baby sister so happy and thriving in her new family, but he couldn't help feeling abandoned. Logically he knew that wasn't the case but coming home to an empty flat wasn't exactly comforting. If he was honest with himself he was struggling. He'd moved into a top price flat in Cardiff bay, making it easier to get into the hub at a moment's notice. It was bigger than the one he'd lived in with Rhiannon for all those years, which only highlighted the fact that he was completely alone in it. From the moment he was born he'd never lived on his own, okay so the first 15 years of his life hadn't exactly been idyllic but he'd never been alone. His thoughts drifted to his parents, what were they doing now? Were they still in that house? Was his mother even alive? He'd never been entirely sure whether the fact that his mother had never appeared, or at least shown any semblance of effort to find them, was a good thing or not. Sometimes he regretted the way they had abandoned her, other times he wished he'd been more brutal. Not that it really mattered anymore. He had long given up the hope andor the fear that his parents would find them again.

'Penny for them?'

Ianto looked up from the computer screen he'd been staring idly at to see Tosh beaming at him from the other side of the tourist counter. 'Morning, Tosh.'

Tosh placed a to-go coffee cup on the counter, 'Americano, whole milk, and a dash of sugar.'

Ianto blinked at her, 'I could have sworn coffee was my job.' He took a swig, 'At least somewhere knows how to do a proper roast.'

Tosh looked absolutely smug, 'I knew you'd approve. There's a new place that just opened up in the bay, and I always remember the thing you said about how new places always do the best coffee because they're still trying to make an impression.'

Ianto smiled, 'You are honestly one in a million.' He leant over the counter and gave her a brief kiss on the cheek, 'you realise I made that comment over a year ago, right?'

'Just shows I'm a good listener,' she leant over the counter and pressed the button to make the fake wall swing open, returning the kiss on the cheek as she slid back to her side. 'See you down there.'

Ianto smiled blithely at her back as she disappeared into the bowels of the hub. Tapping a few buttons on his keyboard he shut the desktop down, giving the office a cursory glance to make sure everything was in order before pressing the button himself and walking through the hidden doorway.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTW

Jack Harkness watched from his office as Ianto Jones entered the hub. It had been fucking forever since he started working here and still nothing. Jack had envisioned glorious sex-filled days and nights, bending the delicious Welshman over his desk, Suzie's desk, Tosh's desk, and hell even the sodding autopsy table. He knew it wasn't fair to assume that Ianto would jump straight into bed with him, but he never thought a former rent boy could be such a prude. After the awkward dismissal he got at Ianto's old apartment a year ago the excuses kept popping up, pushing Jack further and further away. And there's only so much pushing a man could take before his ego took a substantial bruising. It was petty, but Jack had started acting passive-aggressively. He'd flirt shamelessly with the other members of the team, sure to give Ianto pointed looks every time. When that didn't garner a reaction he upped the game, deliberately bringing people back to the hub when he knew Ianto was working late. He'd always send them off with a pat on the back and a system full of retcon, but still Ianto treated him the same as he ever did. Eventually Jack had assumed that the attraction had been largely on his part, and maybe he'd misread Ianto's natural friendliness for sexual attraction. Hell, he was even starting to think he'd imagined them fucking on the millennium.

Jack watched Ianto as he darted about the hub, picking up mislaid files and leftover take-out cartons, depositing a personalised plate of treats and a mug of coffee on each team members desk as he went. Neatness literally followed the man around the hub, and Jack had to admit his life had become so much easier since he hired him. The fridge was always stocked, food was always ordered in, coffee always appeared just when he wanted it. Even mission time had been cut down thanks to Ianto's extensive knowledge of Cardiff. Now if only the man would stop being so stubborn and let Jack help him out of those delectable suit trousers…

Sighing Jack stood up abruptly, swinging out of his office to lean on the railing. 'I'm bored! Why have we been stuck in this tin can for the last two days?'

Suzie snorted, 'Don't be such a child, Jack.' She smiled, 'This is the perfect opportunity for you to catch up on all that paperwork you complain about all the time.'

Jack groaned and slumped over the railing, 'Baby, don't hurt me. I'm sure I hired someone for that sort of tedious task.'

'Are my ears burning?' Ianto smiled blithely, 'May I remind you, Sir, that I cannot sign everything.'

'You know what my signature looks like,' Jack pouted, 'Just pretend you're me and put pen to paper.'

'Christ, you'll give the tea-boy nightmares with a suggestion like that,' Owen piped up.

'Rude. You're all rude.' Jack slumping so low over the bar he could balance with his feet off of the floor, 'C'mon! Rift spike, rogue weevil, sodding visit from the Queen! I don't care what it is but if I don't get to run around in my coat looking dashing I think I'll explode.'

'I'd rather you implode, Sir.' Ianto deadpanned, 'makes it much easier to clean up.'

Jack scowled. Ianto was being down right unfair, he knew full well the wealth of innuendoes that Jack could spout as a comeback to that statement. Jack held his tongue instead, favouring instead to let out a loud groan.

'Would you shut up?' Suzie shouted— she'd been losing her temper more and more these days. 'Some of us actually use this free time to work on our own projects.'

Tosh and Owen shifted uncomfortably. Tosh wondering whether Suzie was going to out her to Jack about her borrowing devices from the archives to continue studying them at home, and Owen wondering if Suzie knew that he'd taken the alien pheromone that makes even the sexiest bird eligible for a shag. Of course Suzie knew about their extra-curricular activities but if she bought those to Jack's attention then her own obsession with the glove would be dragged out into the light of day. And she was so so close to mastering it. She could feel it just beyond her fingertips, the chasm of death so expansive and deep she couldn't help but be drawn to it. She was terrified of it but equally enthralled by the souls trapped in the depths of it. She could cure death. She would cure death. She just had to find larger corpses.

The phone in Jack's office began to ring, eliciting another groan from the man. 'I was kidding, I really don't want a visit from the Queen.' He dragged himself back into his office and snatched the receiver up, 'What?' he barked down the phone.

'_HELP US PLEASE,' _a voice screamed at the end of the line, _'THEY'RE KILLING US.'_

Jack's grip tightened around the phone, 'Who is this? What's going on?' There was a terrifying shriek at the end of the line, and the sound of heavy metal footsteps. 'TALK TO ME!' Jack shouted down the phone, 'Tell me where you are!'

'_T-Torchwood one. Oh God, Jack. You were right. I should never have- it's too late now. They're everywhere.' _

'Hartman? What's happening? Tell me that you didn't activate that ridiculous ghost shift again?'

Yvonne Hartman sobbed down the phone, _'CYBERMEN.'_ The line went dead.

Jack's breath stilled in his lungs. They had to move. Now. Grabbing his coat he ran out of the office, 'IANTO!' he ran down the metal steps, 'Get the SUV running, NOW.'

Ianto appeared in front of him, 'What's going on, Jack?'

'We have to get to Torchwood London now. Tosh, Owen, Suzie grab as many weapons as you can, anything that you think has the capacity to destroy ruthlessly and indefinitely bring it. MOVE.'

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

'Fuck. FUCK.' Jack swerved dangerously between lanes, going a speed Ianto didn't even know existed in a vehicle this size.

'Jack you still haven't told us what's going on,' Suzie shouted from the back.

Jack growled, 'Torchwood London is under attack by a race of beings that are ruthless and deem everything else to be inferior.'

'Daleks,' Ianto breathed.

Jack shook his head, 'No not Dalek's a race called cyber-'

'No, Jack,' Ianto pointed up, 'Daleks!'

Jack slammed on the brakes, narrowly avoiding colliding with the car in front of them, and stared into the sky, 'No.' Cybermen and Daleks? What the hell was happening? Jack killed the SUV's engine when he realised that there was no way the traffic in front of them would be moving anytime soon, if at all. 'Grab as much as you can and follow me!'

He led his suddenly tiny team through the streets of London, checking the sky every few minutes for any movement from the Daleks above of them.

'How far away are we?' Owen gasped.

Jack grunted, 'Too far still, dammit.'

'Jack look! What's happened?' Tosh shouted from behind him.

They all looked up in the sky to see the Daleks being pulled into the Torchwood building, the screams of the Daleks reaching their ears as they're sucked in. Jack breaks the spell and starts running again frantically in the direction of the building, followed by the rest of his team. By the time they reach the building they see a group of shell-shocked employees wandering around at the base of the building.

Jack runs up to the nearest one, 'What happened?' The woman opens her mouth uselessly and shakes her head, sinking to the ground wailing hysterically. Jack grabs the next person, 'What happened?!'

'The-the ghosts they weren't ghosts. These horrible metal men, screaming delete. They took so many people. I ran- I had to- I couldn't.' The man breaks down. 'What were they?'

Jack grunts and runs towards the building, Suzie, Tosh, and Ianto close behind him. 'Tosh, Suzie with me. Ianto get on to UNIT, MI5, the military, everyone just get them here and get them to start dealing with this mess. Then come in after us and help find survivors.'

TTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWT

Ianto had wanted nothing less than to follow the rest of the team into that death filled place. He'd organised UNIT soldiers into factions, some to help the people who'd made it out and to help Owen treat survivors' wounds, the other to go into the building with him and help eliminate any threats left in the building and save those who could be saved. Taking a deep breath he entered the building, gun raised. It was eerily quiet; he'd decided to check the lower levels first thinking that he would head there in a crisis like this. Stepping over bloodied metal, he carefully made his way to the archive entrance. Rounding a corner he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. Training his gun on the spot he moved towards the figure, 'Come out, with your hands up.'

A tall man in a brown pinstriped suit and converse turned around, 'Oh. Mind pointing that thing away from my face, it's just I quite happen to like this particular face.'

Ianto frowned, and lowered his gun, 'Who are you? Do you work here?'

The man laughed, a hollow sound, 'God, no. Who would want to? I mean,' he kicked half a helmet away from his converse, 'terrible housekeeping.' Ianto blinked as the man moved closer to him, 'Don't tell anyone you saw me.'

'Why not?'

The man sighed, 'Weelll, I'm not supposed to be here technically. And there's a particular man I'd rather not run into. Thank god he wears that coat, can't miss him in that. But then he never could do subtle.'

'It's not that Jack can't do subtle, it's that he thinks he's depriving people from his rapier wit and dashing charm.' Ianto frowned, 'I know he's got a rather…bracing personality but he is dashing. You've got to give him that.'

The man smiled, touching the tip of his tongue to his front teeth, 'Ohhh, you know Captain Jack Harkness. The universe is getting smaller and smaller.' His expression dropped, 'You can't tell him you saw me.'

'He's my boss.' Ianto sighed, 'And just because you happen to be spectacularly attractive doesn't mean you can tell me what I can and can't do.'

'You really must work for Jack. Does that man have no boundaries?' The man smiled sadly, 'What's your name?'

'Ianto Jones.'

'Well then, Ianto Jones, let's make a deal.'

Ianto nodded, 'Okay. My price isn't very high. Two questions.'

'Fire away.'

'What's your name?'

'The Doctor.'

Ianto's mouth dropped open. Torchwood's alleged number one enemy emerging after a massive catastrophe where half the staff had been massacred. That couldn't be a coincidence. The universe was rarely so lazy. Ianto struggled to not let a careless question slip out of his mouth, thinking desperately for what his next question should be. The identity of the man in front of his had made him forget what he was originally going to ask.

'C'mon then, second question. I haven't got all day. Linear time is so dull.'

Ianto gulped, 'Uhm. Uhh. Let me think. I wasn't expecting you to be…well you.'

'You've heard of me then?' The Doctor said, looking a little smug.

Ianto nodded. He knew him through Torchwood, yeah. But he also knew him through Jack's personal files. After Jack had been going through a particular bout of petty passive-aggression Ianto had been planning to get his revenge by going through Jack's personal files and finding something that could embarrass him. What he'd found had shocked and devastated him in equal measure. Jack's immortality, his wife, his daughter, his grandson, and above all the century he'd spent waiting for this man. The man in front of him. Ianto knew what his next question was.

'Okay. So Jack can't die.'

The Doctor watched him curiously, 'Go on.'

Ianto took in a deep breath, 'Jack can't die. So something must have happened to make him like that either before or after birth. I'll bet that has something to do with you and perhaps the reason you don't want to see him. But what I don't understand is why he's been waiting for you to come and get him for over a century.'

The Doctor was inspecting his converse, 'What's your question?'

'Why are you avoiding him? And no stupid one line answer that's cryptic, I want honest detail.'

The Doctor stared at Ianto levelly, 'Jack can't die because Ro-' he took a deep breath, 'Because Rose Tyler didn't want him to die. But she brought him all the way back to life. She made him a fact, something true and unmoving in time and space.' The Doctor's expression hardened. 'He's wrong. It's not easy looking at him because he's just…wrong.'

Ianto felt his emotionless mask slip, revealing a quiet fury he did not know he possessed. 'Jack may be many things, Doctor, but he is not and never could be wrong.'

'Let's call it a difference of opinion. Timelord vs Human perception.' The Doctor turned away, 'Now Ianto Jones, I expect you to keep your end of the bargain. Oh and if you're heading towards the archives I'd be careful.' Ianto raised an eyebrow, 'never know what you're going to find.' With that The Doctor sauntered out of Ianto's sight, who was quietly cursing his luck for running into the man at all. He'd have no problems not telling Jack that he'd seen the Doctor now he knew he was avoiding Jack. Raising his gun again he headed towards the archives.

TTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

Jack Harkness was exhausted. He'd run up and down and round and round the Torchwood building like a lunatic, helping trapped employees out of the building and ordering a particularly capable UNIT taskforce to help him dismantle the conversion units that had been set up on one of the upper floors. Desensitised to the gore that covered the floors, walls, ceilings he'd traipsed through the blood disconnecting half converted bodies from the machines pumping bullets into each skull as a precautionary measure. When he'd convinced himself that he'd done enough he exited the building. Owen was scurrying around, ordering UNITs medical taskforce to attend to the people scattered on the blood stained pavement. Tosh was sat in the middle of it all surrounded by a pile of cybermat technology, hooking up various devices to her handheld computer. Suzie was liaising with the higher-ups in UNIT, swapping information for official reports to be filled out no doubt. And Ianto was…Jack frowned. Where was Ianto? Standing he scanned the immediate area, grabbing a passing UNIT soldier.

'You seen a welsh guy around here? About your height? You'd know him from the delectable accent.'

The soldier saluted, 'Yes, Sir. Mr Jones entered the building with my team approximately 45 minutes ago. He separated from my team against my express wishes and I have not seen him since.'

Jack groaned, 'Which way did he go?'

'Towards the lower levels, Sir.'

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

Ianto had found her almost the minute he'd entered the lower levels. Her screams pierced through his skull as she dragged her backwards towards a storage container. Her blood was all over him, covering his arms and torso, soaking through his suit. He stumbled and dropped her, she was so heavy. Picking her up again he propped her up against the wall of the container he'd dragged her into. Crouching down in front of her he felt tears prick the back of his eyes, 'Oh, Lisa.'

She smiled through gritted teeth, 'Ah, still gorgeous, Jones,' she hissed in pain.

'So this is the top secret government thing, huh?'

She grimaced, 'Was I always so eloquent?'

Ianto wiped away a trickle of blood from the side of her face. He was panicking. He didn't know what to do. She was dying. Beautiful, funny, full-of-life, Lisa. Possibly the only woman he'd ever fancied in his pathetic life. One of the only people in the world who had never treated him with contempt or disdain. He'd even go as far as to say she was his best friend, even if they hadn't spoken in a while.

'I'll get you out of here, I swear.'

Lisa shook her head, 'There's no way I'll make it, Ianto,' she smiled weakly, a tear falling down her cheek, 'I'm a gonner.'

'Don't talk like that. I'll find a way. Maybe- maybe the people I work with can think of something.'

She shook her head again, the metal helmet shaking with her, 'If they're anything like this place I'll be killed.'

'That's just it, Lisa. I'm Torchwood as well. I just work in the Cardiff branch, and it's so different there I swear.'

Lisa giggled manically, 'Christ, typical there'd have been a local branch.'

Ianto heard a crash from down the hallway followed by Jack calling out, 'Ianto! Where are you?'

'Jack! I'm down here,' he turned to Lisa. 'Jack's my boss he'll know what to do.'

'Captain Jack Harkness?' Lisa laughed hysterically again, 'I'm definitely dead now.'

Jack burst into the room relief on his face upon seeing Ianto but turning to disgust when he saw Lisa on the floor, 'Oh fuck, Ianto get back.'

'No, Jack. It's okay, I know her! She's my friend,' Ianto stepped in front of her, guarding her. 'We have to help her.'

Jack shook his head, pulling his Webley from his belt, 'She can't be saved.'

Ianto grabbed Jack's gun and knocked it from his grasp, 'I can't let you kill her! There has to be some way of-'

'No Ianto! There isn't. You don't understand what these things are. They're like a plague, spreading out and converting and killing people as they go. Even she's a danger.'

Ianto stepped back, closer to Lisa, 'No she's not she can barely even move, Jack. How could she hurt anyon-'

'Don't be so naïve, Ianto!' Jack shouted, 'The process has already begun. It's only a matter of time before the programming kicks in and she tries to convert you too.'

Ianto looked at Lisa, her face scrunched up in pain. He was sure she wasn't even following this conversation her pain was so great. 'I don't believe it. She isn't capable of that. Lisa is one of the kindest people I know.'

Jack grabbed Ianto by the shoulders, 'And the Cybermen killed that when they stuck her in one of those machines. That isn't the woman you knew. She's gone. That thing is using her memories to trick you, to get you to help her.'

Ianto looked at Jack's hands on his shoulders, unable to believe what Jack was saying. He knew Lisa, there's no way that a soul-less metal being could be capable of imitating her that well. 'No. It is Lisa. Clinging to her humanity. Please, Jack. Help her!'

Jack slammed Ianto against the wall, 'There is no helping her. The only way to help her is to put a bullet in her skull.'

Ianto pushed Jack away from him, 'There has to be another way! I can't just let you kill her!'

Jack lunged for the gun in Ianto's hand, wrestling Ianto for control of the weapon, 'Give it to me!'

Ianto struggled to keep it out of Jack's reach, 'No!'

The pair tussled for it. Jack pulled Ianto's hair, manipulating his movements to bring the gun closer to him. Ianto kicked Jack in the shin, knocking him off balance. The pair crashed to the floor, scrambling for possession of the gun. Biting, scratching, clawing, hitting, and struggling against one another when a loud bang made them both freeze. They looked up to the gun, barrel slightly smoking, impossible to tell who had pulled the trigger. Ianto pushed Jack harshly off of him to see where the shot had landed. His face draining of all colour when he saw the blood pooling and running down Lisa's chest.

'No, no, no, no, no. Lisa?' He shook her body, 'Lisa? Can you hear me?' He shook her harder, 'No, please, no, no. Lisa!' He shouted at her body, shaking her as hard as he could, tears streaming down his face.

'Ianto-'

'No! It was an accident! I didn't mean- I never meant-' Ianto crumpled in on himself, 'Jack. What have I done?'

Jack crouched down next to the Welshman and put an arm around his shoulders, 'Ianto. Listen, do you trust me?' Ianto gave a watery nod. 'Then believe me when I tell you that there was no way to save her. If she had recovered from the partial conversion then she would have been one of them. The Lisa you knew was gone long before you found her.'

Ianto gave Jack a scornful look, 'Why did you have to come down here? Why couldn't it have been Owen or Tosh? They would have tried to help me, or at least considered the possibility. Why do you have to be so bloody merciless?'

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

The ride back to the hub was long. Ridiculously long in fact, even with Jack breaking the speed limit. Tosh wondered whether there was ever a situation where Jack would go the speed limit. She mainly kept her eyes glued to the handheld computer in her hand, deciphering the complex code and schematics of the technology she had just been in contact with. Most of the tech she'd wanted to bring back with her Jack had denied her and ordered UNIT to destroy it. Tosh supressed a shudder as she remembered being surrounded by people in those uniforms again, due to the nature of the situation her concentration had been diverted elsewhere otherwise she might have had a meltdown the minute she saw those red caps. Tosh glanced quickly over to Ianto who was sat awkwardly in his seat, a blank expression on his face. Even blanker than the usual mask he'd kept on. Something had clearly happened between him and Jack when Jack had gone to find him in the archives, something to do with the body that they had dragged out with them she assumed. She felt a pang of guilt when she'd been intrigued by the composition of flesh to technology ratio. Torchwood had been changing her for a long time now; she'd been horrified at most of the things she had seen and the people that had died in the process, now she barely batted an eyelid at a corridor full of bloodied metal components.

She shifted in her seat, brushing up against Owen as she did so. He grunted slightly, not waking from the doze he'd been in, his head lolling onto Tosh's shoulder. Her gaze flicked down to his unguarded face, a slight smile spreading over her mouth as she indulged in the feeling of his body so close to hers, shifting slightly so his neck wasn't bent at a too awkward angle. She'd always had been attracted to Owen, ever since he joined the team. He was rude and brash; completely the opposite to Tosh, but there was something about him.

Owen jerked awake as Jack pulled into the underground garage, cursing under his breath as he stretched his neck out. 'Sorry, Tosh. Didn't mean to use you as a pillow.'

Tosh shrugged, a slight blush creeping over her cheeks, 'That's okay. I didn't mind.'

Owen gave her an odd look, 'Right.' He swung his legs out of the SUV and stretched up, moving round the back of the SUV as he did. Teaching down to help Ianto carry up the body from the boot. Owen didn't know why they were bringing this particular body back with them, but the determined and harrowing look in Ianto's eyes had prevented him from asking about it. They both struggled up the stairs to the main hub, stumbling, the body slipping from their grip as they went. When they finally managed to place the body on the autopsy table, they were both breathless from the effort it had taken.

'Ianto,' Owen started, not quite sure how to continue, 'what do you- I mean, do you want me to-'

'It's fine, Owen. I- I know it was strange of me to request we bring her back with us but,' Ianto took a deep breath, 'I knew her, Owen.'

Owen frowned, 'I don't get it. How did you know her?'

'She was my friend. Probably my best friend. I worked with her before I worked here.' Ianto took her hand, 'Can I just sit with her for a second?'

'Sure, sure I'm gonna head out anyway,' the way Ianto was looking at her lifeless form reminded Owen far too much of how he'd looked after Katie. He felt as though the wind had been knocked out of him. How long was it going to take before every sodding little thing would stop reminding him of her? He was tired of a lump forming in his throat every time Tosh asked for a peppermint tea, one of Katie's favourites. They had bickered endlessly about its validity as an actual tea or just a fancy title for hot minty water. She had won of course; he always let her win just so she could do that adorable "I told you so" face. Swallowing hard he grabbed his coat and stomped through the cog door.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

After leaving Lisa in the med bay, Ianto trudged through the archives feeling as though he was part of a terrible dream. He'd begun to become acclimatised to death; he saw it nearly every day in this place, but it had never been anyone he knew. And there had never been so much death in one place. Ianto closed his eyes and took a deep breath. With his history of tragedy he thought that he would be able to close off his emotions to this new pain, just like he used to when he still lived with his parents, like when he was turning tricks like the proficient whore he was. But no one had ever died before. He'd been used and abused but no one had actually left his life so abruptly without his express action to make it happen. He contemplated how he would feel if his parents were dead, a strange conflicted feeling rose in his chest momentarily before fading into the numbness that he associated with his parents.

Ianto slumped down in a nearby chair, and put his head in his hands. He knew what Jack was saying made sense, and he trusted the man beyond all reason when it came to anything extra-terrestrial. But couldn't he have least humoured him? At least tried to do something to help her before telling Ianto he had to give up on her? He was angry. He was furious at Jack for not being sensitive to his feelings, not that that should even surprise him. After he rebuffed Jack's sexual advances Jack had been increasingly petty, deliberately trying to get a rise from Ianto by bringing all manner of backwater filth into the hub to screw around with. While Ianto trusted Jack with work matters, and even his life, he did not trust him with his heart. Jack had said several times that he didn't do petty 21st century things like "relationships" or "monogamy", claiming that it was a primitive and prudish time to be stuck in.

'Penny for them?'

Ianto snorted, 'Ironically, that's not the first time I've been asked that today.'

Jack smiled sadly and leant up against the wall facing Ianto, 'Well, with a stoic face like that anyone would wonder what was going on beneath the surface.'

'You're a wanker, Jack.'

'Ah,' Jack took a deep breath, 'Still angry then?'

Ianto looked at him incredulously, 'How could I not be?'

'I told you there was nothing that we could do.'

Ianto jumped up, 'But why couldn't you have tried at least? Even if you knew nothing could be done why didn't you fucking try?'

Jack shook his head, 'Because it was pointless. Why get your hopes up over something I know would never work?'

'Because she was my friend! You could have tried for me. Fuck, you could even have pretended to try and I still would have believed you.' Ianto shoved Jack against the wall, 'You could have pretended you cared about something other than your cock just for ten seconds.'

'Oh now you show an interest in my cock.'

Ianto stared at Jack, 'Are you fucking kidding me right now?'

Jack shrugged, 'You were the one that brought it up.'

'Fuck. You.' Ianto turned away, 'I don't have the energy to be this fucking angry, right now.'

Jack grabbed Ianto's shoulders and spun him around, his hands coming up behind Ianto's neck forcing their mouths together in a messy clash of teeth. Ianto pushed Jack away from him. 'What the fuck do you think you're- you don't have the right to even- why do you-' Ianto let out a frustrated growl and grabbed Jack's braces, forcing their mouths back together. Jack slides his hands down to Ianto's hips and grips them tightly as the younger man pushes Jack harder into the wall. Jack moves his hands to the small of Ianto's back, eliciting a small shiver from the other man. Ianto can feel his hands automatically moving over the planes of Jack's body, relearning their way around Jack's sensitive spots.

Breaking the kiss Ianto looks at Jack, pupils blown, rucked up shirt, ruffled hair are enough to break any resolve Ianto had about not sleeping with him again. The fact Ianto was still furious with Jack seemed only to spur him on, lose his reason faster. Ianto, fairly certain that the expression on his face is somewhere between aroused and annoyed, moves his mouth down to attack Jack's jawline, alternating between lips, teeth, and tongue like a true professional, finding the spots that made Jack's knees give slightly.

Jack groans in delight at Ianto's ministrations, heart pounding and soul soaring. If enraging the Welshman was all it took for him to break his prudish resolve then Jack would do it again. Grabbing Ianto's jaw he brought him back up to his mouth, tongues sliding over each other. Jack smiled into the kiss, Ianto tasted of coffee this time round. Grabbing him by the shoulders he turns them around so this time Ianto is the one pinned to the wall, pushing his body flush against Ianto's as he plundered his mouth again, grinding their hips together forcing a whimpering gasp out of Ianto. An almost competitive urge rises in Ianto and so he reaches down and slips his hands below the waistband of Jack's trousers. Ianto almost laughs at the gasp that falls from Jack's mouth, oh yeah he was still good at this. Jack presses his mouth to Ianto's jawline; nibbling that particular spot that Ianto discovered the last time he was with Jack. Momentarily Ianto pauses in his own attentions to revel in Jack's.

Without warning Jack drags Ianto from the wall and backs him into the chair, forcing Ianto to sit heavily as Jack reaches out and pulls Ianto's shirt out of his trousers, undoing his belt and the top button in one deft movement. Giving Ianto a predatory look, Jack drops to his knees and reaches up to undo the fly. Jack hears Ianto's breathing hitch as he mouths him through the cotton barrier. This was always one of Jack's favourite moments. The absolute power over another person, to be completely in control of their pleasure. To have to ability to make them pant and tremble with every movement.

Jack yelped as Ianto grabbed his shoulders harshly and pulled Jack's mouth back up to his own, the friction between their bodies causing Jack to rock his hips against Ianto's in an automatic movement.

'You realise that there is a camera just there?' Ianto breathed against Jack's mouth, 'I'd rather spare Tosh the embarrassment of having to watch the entire show.'

'Then what do you suggest? Because if we stay like this much longer I'm going to tear your clothes off. With my teeth.'

Ianto groaned at the images springing to his mind, 'I suggest you take me to that cosy underground bed, Sir.'

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

Suzie watched as Jack and Ianto frantically moved themselves down the manhole in Jack's room. She would have been more disturbed at the sight of them barely dressed, unable to keep their hands off each other's bodies for more than a second, if she didn't have a more pressing agenda.

The body that they had brought back. It was perfect. The perfect thing to test the gloves true capabilities out on. Creeping over to the med bay, she positioned herself over the body of the woman. Slipping the glove on her hand she felt around in the darkness, waiting for the glove to respond to her, giving her access to the power it possessed. She smiled sadistically as the glove sprang to life on her hand, placing it underneath the head of the body. Suzie closed her eyes as she felt for the life force of the woman in the black void. Turning her head as though she were actually looking, she found it. The body jerked to life, a massive gasp emanating from her.

'Wh-where am I? What's happening? Oh God. Are they coming for me?'

'Shh, shh you're okay. You're safe! Nothing's coming to get you,' she moved into the eyeline of the woman, 'What's your name?'

'Lisa Hallet,' she looked around wildly, 'Oh god! Please don't let them get me!'

'I won't let anyone get you, I promise. Just stay with me okay?'

Lisa looked at Suzie, a feral look in her eye, 'Stay with you? Where am I going? Oh god, they got me. Where's Ianto? He said he'd help me. I need to see Ianto!'

'He's here; I'll go and get him in a minute. This is important what did you see before I woke you up?'

'What? I wasn't- wait where was I? It was so dark. Oh god, there was nothing. I don't want to go back there. Please! Please don't let it take me back there!'

'You've seen it too? What's it like?' Suzie's face lit up in a manic glee, 'I've been trying to get it's attention but it won't look at me.'

Lisa blinked, breathing heavily, 'No don't- it's terrible- so awful- I don't want- don't let it-' she stuttered and her eyes slammed shut, head going limp in Suzie's gloved hand. Dead again.

'No, no, no. Come back. I can bring you back here,' Suzie reached into the glove again, searching for the woman but no matter how much she tried she couldn't bring her back.

Suzie stared down at the glove. It should have worked. Why didn't it work? She knew that she could cure death. If only "it" would pay attention to her. She'd have to try again. She'd have to find another body.


End file.
